


* .0' 



^^ * o „ ^ ^<^ 



c 



w ■-:^^y_^'v 



X-. o -1/ ,^<t..- V 






.'y 



^*.^ 






^> 



w -•*('- ^/j -» 



^J. <^ 






^^ %"-^^^. 



\, 



^ .>^ 















s^ -^^ 



^^ %. 



J^' 






^^°^ 






% 



"W. .^ 









'• **' 









% 



.V 



.^ 






•^ (-0- o^-«^^ 

4 o 






» ■» ■'_>\ J- * 



i^:<^;'^o 






,t.*^ 



.0 ^ '^-^!'^*^^^^o* ■c'^ o 



,<•' 



%'>\. . 












.0^ 






^^,- 






>^ 







*0 ^P'^ *o«o^ O, 









CAPTAIN JOHN MARSTON, 1715-1786 
Landlord of the " Golden Ball " and "Bunch of Grapes " 



OLD BOSTON TAVERNS 



AND 



TAVERN CLUBS 

BY 
SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE 



NEW ILLUSTRATED EDITION 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF 

"Cole's Inn/* <*The Bakers' Arms," and *« Golden Ball" 

BY 

WALTER K. WATKINS 



Also a List or Taverns, Giving the Names of the Various Owners 
OF THE Property, from Miss Thwing's Work on "The In- 
habitants AND Estates of the Town of Boston, 
1630-1800," IN THE Possession of the 
Massachusetts Historical 
Society 



W. A. BUTTERFIELD 

59 BROMFIELD STREET, BOSTON 
I917 



.r 

T)7Y 



Copyright, 1917, by 
W. A. BUTTEKFIELD. 



bEC 10 1917 

©CI.A479485 



FOREWORD. 



[HE Inns of Old Boston have played such a part in its 
history that an illustrated edition of Drake may not 
be out of place at this late date. "Cole's Inn'' has been 
definitely located, and the " Hancock Tavern " question also 
settled. 

I wish to thank the Bostonian Society for the privilege 
of reprinting Mr. Watkin's account of the " Bakers' Arms " 
and the " Golden Ball " and valuable assistance given by 
Messrs. C. T. Eead, E. W. McGlenen, and W. A. Watkins ; 
Henderson and Boss for the illustration of the "Crown 
Coffee House," and the Walton Advertising Co. for the 
"Boyal Exchange Tavern." 

Other works consulted are Snow's History of Boston, 
Memorial History of Boston, Stark's Antique Views, 
Porter's Kambles in Old Boston, and Miss Thwing's very 
valuable work in the Massachusetts Historical Society. 

THE PUBLISHER. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. Upon the Tavern as an Institution .... 9 

n. The Earlier Ordinaries 19 

III. In Revolutionary Times 33 

IV. Signboard Humor 52 

V. Appendix ; Boston Taverns to the Year 1800 . . 61 

VI. Cole's Inn 73 

Vn. The Bakers' Arms 76 

Vni. The Golden Ball Tavern 80 

IX. The Hancock Tavern ....... 89 

X. List of Taverns and Tavern Owners . . . .99 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Capt. John Marston Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Sign of the Lamb ........ 17 

The Heart and Crown 18 ' 

Royal Exchange Tavern 24 

Portrait of Joseph Green ....... 26 

Portrait of John Dunton . . . . . . . 28 ^ 

^The Bunch of Grapes . . . . . . . .34^ 

Cromwell Head Board Bill ....... 44 

The Cromwell's Head 44 

The Green Dragon 46 

The Green Dragon Sign 47 

The Liberty Tree ......... 50 

The Brazen Head 51 

The Good Woman 52 ^ 

The Dog and Pot 53 

How Shall I Get Through This World? . . . .54 

The Crown Coffee House 62'^ 

Old Newspaper Advertisement 64 ' 

JuLiEN House 65 ^ 

The Sun Tavern 68 

The Three Doves 70 

Jolley Allen Advertisement ....... 70 



8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PASS 

The Bakers' Arms 75 

Sign of Bunch of Grapes 80 

Sign of Golden Ball 80 

Map showing Location of Cole's Inn 88 

Coffee Urn 90 

Map of Boston, 1645 98 

Bromfield House 102 

Fireman's Ticket 104 

Portrait of Governor Belcher 106 

Exchange Coffee House, 1808-18 108 

Exchange Coffee House, 1848 110 

Hatch Tavern 112 

Lamb Tavern . . . 114 

Sun Tavern (Dock Square) • 122 

Bonners' Map of Boston, 1722 124 



Ol^D B05J0J^ 5/^l/EI^MS. 




I. 

UPOJS^ THE TAVERN AS AN INSTITUTION. 

HE famous remark of Louis XIV., "There are 
no longer any Pyrenees," may perhaps be open 
to criticism, but there are certainly no longer 
any taverns in New England. It is true that the 
statutes of the Commonwealth continue to designate 
such houses as the Brunswick and Vendome as taverns, 
and their proprietors as innkeepers ; yet we must insist 
upon the truth of our assertion, the letter of the law 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

No words need be wasted upon the present degrada- 
tion which the name of tavern implies to polite ears. In 
most minds it is now associated with the slums of the 
city, and with that particular phase of city life only, 
so all may agree that, as a prominent feature of society 
and manners, the tavern has had its day. The situation 
is easily accounted for. The simple truth is, that, in 
moving on, the world has left the venerable institution 
standing in the eighteenth century ; but it is equally 
true that, before that time, the history of any civilized 
people could hardly be written without making great 



10 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

mention of it. With the disappearance of the old sign- 
boards our streets certainly have lost a most picturesque 
feature, at least one avenue is closed to art, while a 
few very aged men mourn the loss of something en- 
deared to them by many pleasant recollections. 

As an offset to the admission that the tavern has 
outlived its usefulness, we ought in justice to establish 
its actual character and standing as it was in the past. 
We shall then be the better able to judge how it was 
looked upon both from a moral and material stand-point, 
and can follow it on through successive stages of good 
or evil fortune, as we would the life of an individual. 

It fits our purpose admirably, and we are glad to 
find so eminent a scholar and divine as Dr. Dwight par- 
ticularly explicit on this point. He tells us that, in his 
day, "The best old-fashioned New England inns were 
superior to any of the modern ones. There was less bus- 
tle, less parade, less appearance of doing a great deal to 
gratify your wishes, than at the reputable modern inns; 
but much more was actually done, and there was much 
more comfort and enjoyment. In a word, you found in 
these inns the pleasures of an excellent private house. 
If you were sick you were nursed and befriended as 
in your own family. To finish the story, your bills were 
always equitable, calculated on what you ought to pay, 
and not upon the scheme of getting the most which 
extortion might think proper to demand." 

Now this testimonial to what the public inn was 
eighty odd years ago comes with authority from one 



THE TAVERN AS AN INSTITUTION. 11 

who had visited every nook and corner of New England, 
was so keen and capable an observer, and is always 
a faithful recorder of what he saw. Dr. Dwight has 
frequently said that during his travels he often "found 
his warmest welcome at an inn." 

In order to give the history of what may be called 
the Eise and Fall of the Tavern among us, we should 
go back to the earliest settlements, to the very be- 
ginning of things. In our own country the Pilgrim 
Fathers justly stand for the highest type of pubhc and 
private morals. No less would be conceded them by 
the most unfriendly critic. Intemperance, extravagant 
living, or immorality found no harborage on Plymouth 
Rock, no matter under what disguise it might come. 
Because they were a virtuous and sober people, they 
had been filled with alarm for their own youth, lest 
the example set by the Hollanders should corrupt the 
stay and prop of their community. Indeed, Bradford 
tells us fairly that this was one determining cause of 
the removal into New England. 

The institution of taverns among the Pilgrims fol- 
lowed close upon the settlement. Not only were they 
a recognized need, but, as one of the time-honored in- 
stitutions of the old country, no one seems to have 
thought of denouncing them as an evil, or even as a 
necessary evil. Travellers and sojourners had to be 
provided for even in a wilderness. Therefore taverns 
were licensed as fast as new villages grew up. Upward 
of a dozen were licensed at one sitting of the General 



12 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

Court. The usual form of concession is that So-and-So 
is licensed to draw wine and beer for the public. The 
supervision was strict, but not more so than the spirit 
of a patriarchal community, founded on morals, would 
seem to require ; but there were no such attempts to 
cover up the true character of the tavern as we have 
seen practised in the cities of this Commonwealth for 
the purpose of evading the strict letter of the law; 
and the law then made itself respected. An inn- 
keeper was not then looked upon as a person who was 
pursuing a disgraceful or immoral calling, — a sort of 
outcast, as it were, — but, while strictly held amenable 
to the law, he was actually taken under its protection. 
For instance, he was fined for selling any one person an 
immoderate quantity of liquor, and he was also liable 
to a fine if he refused to sell the quantity allowed to 
be drank on the premises, though no record is found of 
a prosecution under this singular statutory provision; 
still, for some time, this regulation was continued in 
force as the only logical way of dealing with the liquor 
question, as it then presented itself. 

When the law also prohibited a citizen from enter- 
taining a stranger in his own house, unless he gave 
bonds for his guest's good behavior, the tavern occupied 
a place between the community and the outside world 
not wholly unlike that of a moral quarantine. The 
town constable could keep a watchful eye upon all 
suspicious characters with greater ease when they were 
imder one roof. Then it was his business to know 



THE TAVERN AS AN INSTITUTION. 13 

everybody's, so that any show of mystery about it 
would have settled, definitely, the stranger's status, as 
being no better than he should be. "Mind your own 
business," is a maxim hardly yet domesticated in New 
England, outside of our cities, or likely to become sud- 
denly popular in our rural communities, where, in those 
good old days we are talking about, a public official 
was always a public inquisitor, as well as newsbearer 
from house to house. 

On their part, the Puritan Fathers seem to have taken 
the tavern under strict guardianship from the very first. 
In 1634, when the price of labor and everything else 
was regulated, sixpence was the legal charge for a meal, 
and a penny for an ale quart of beer, at an inn, and 
the landlord was liable to ten shillings fine if a greater 
charge was made. Josselyn, who was in New England 
at a very early day, remarks, that, "At the tap-houses 
of Boston I have had an ale quart of cider, spiced and 
sweetened with sugar, for a groat." So the fact that 
the law once actually prescribed how much should be 
paid for a morning dram may be set down among the 
curiosities of colonial legislation. 

No later than the year 1647 the number of applicants 
for licenses to keep taverns had so much increased that 
the following act was passed by our General Court for 
its own relief: "It is ordered by the authority of this 
court, that henceforth all such as are to keep houses 
of common entertainment, and to retail wine, beer, etc., 
shall be licensed at the county courts of the shire where 



14 



OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 



they live, or the Court of Assistants, so as this court 
may not be thereby hindered in their more weighty 
affairs." 

A noticeable thing about this particular bill is, that 
when it went down for concurrence the word " deputies " 
was erased and "house" substituted by the speaker in 
its stead, thus showing that the newly born popular 
body had begun to assert itself as the only true repre- 
sentative chamber, and meant to show the more aristo- 
cratic branch that the sovereign people had spoken 
at last. 

By the time Philip's war had broken out, in 1675, 
taverns had become so numerous that Cotton Mather 
has said that every other house in Boston was one. 
Indeed, the calamity of the war itself was attributed 
to the number of tippling-houses in the colony. At 
any rate this was one of the alleged sins which, in the 
opinion of Mather, had called down upon the colony 
the frown of Providence. A century later, Governor 
Pownall repeated Mather's statement. So it is quite 
evident that the increase of taverns, both good and bad, 
had kept pace with the growth of the country. 

It is certain that, at the time of which we are speak- 
ing, some of the old laws affecting the drinking habits 
of society were openly disregarded. Drinking healths, 
for instance, though under the ban of the law, was still 
practised in Cotton Mather's day by those who met 
at the social board. We find him defending it as a 
common form of politeness, and not the invocation of 



THE TAVERN AS AN INSTITUTION. 15 

Heaven it had once been in the days of chivalry. Drink- 
ing at funerals, weddings, church-raisings, and even at 
ordinations, was a thing everywhere sanctioned by cus- 
tom. The person who should have refused to furnish 
liquor on such an occasion would have been the subject 
of remarks not at all complimentary to his motives. 

It seems curious enough to find that the use of 
tobacco was looked upon by the fathers of the colony 
as far more sinful, hurtful, and degrading than indul- 
gence in intoxicating liquors. Indeed, in most of the 
New England settlements, not only the use but the 
planting of tobacco was strictly forbidden. Those who 
had a mind to solace themselves with the interdicted 
weed could do so only in the most private manner. The 
language of the law is, "Nor shall any take tobacco in 
any wine or common victual house, except in a private 
room there, so as the master of said house nor any 
guest there shall take offence thereat; which, if any do, 
then such person shall forbear upon pain of two shillings 
sixpence for every such offence." 

It is found on record that two innocent Dutchmen, 
who went on a visit to Harvard College, — when that 
venerable institution was much younger than it is to- 
day, — were so nearly choked with the fumes of tobacco- 
smoke, on first going in, that one said to the other, 
"This is certainly a tavern." 

It is also curious to note that, in spite of the steady 
growth of the smoking habit among all classes of people, 
public opinion continued to uphold the laws directed to 



16 



OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 



its suppression, though, from our stand-point of to-day, 
these do seem uncommonly severe. And this state of 
things existed down to so late a day that men are now 
living who have been asked to plead "guilty or not 
guilty," at the bar of a police court, for smoking in the 
streets of Boston. A dawning sense of the ridiculous, 
it is presumed, led at last to the discontinuance of ar- 
rests for this cause; but for some time longer officers 
were in the habit of inviting detected smokers to show 
respect for the memory of a defunct statute of the Com- 
monwealth, by throwing their cigars into the gutter. 

Turning to practical considerations, we shall find the 
tavern holding an important relation to its locality. In 
the first place, it being so nearly coeval with the laying 
out of villages, the tavern quickly became the one known 
landmark for its particular neighborhood. For instance, 
in Boston alone, the names Seven Star Lane, Orange 
Tree Lane, Eed Lion Lane, Black Horse Lane, Sun 
Court, Cross Street, Bull Lane, not to mention others 
that now have so outlandish a sound to sensitive ears, 
were all derived from taverns. We risk little in saying 
that a Bostonian in London would think the great me- 
tropolis strangely altered for the worse should he find 
such hallowed names as Charing Cross, Bishopsgate, or 
Temple Bar replaced by those of some wealthy Smith, 
Brown, or Eobinson; yet he looks on, while the same 
sort of vandalism is constantly going on at home, with 
hardly a murmur of disapproval, so differently does the 
same thing look from different points of view. 



THE TAVERN AS AN INSTITUTION 17 

As further fixing the topographical character of tav- 
erns, it may be stated that in the old almanacs dis- 
tances are always computed between the inns, instead 
of from town to town, as the practice now is. 

Of course such topographical distinctions as we have 
pointed out began at a time when there were few public 
buildings ; but the idea almost amounts to an instinct, 
because even now it is a common habit with every one 
to first direct the inquiring stranger to some prominent 
landmark. As such, tavern-signs were soon known and 
noted by all travellers. 




SIGN OF THE LAMB. 



Then again, tavern-titles are, in most cases, traced 
back to the old country. Love for the old home and 
its associations made the colonist like to take his mug 
of ale under the same sign that he had patronized when 
in England. It was a never-failing reminiscence to him. 
And innkeepers knew how to appeal to this feeling. 



jg OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

Hence the Red Lion and the Lamb, the St. George and 
the Green Dragon, the Black, White, and Red Horse, 
the Sun Seven Stars, and Globe, were each and all so 
many reminiscences of Old London. In their way they 
denote the same sort of tie that is perpetuated by the 
Bostons, Portsmouths, Falmouths, and other names of 
Enghsh origin. 





II. 

THE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 

S early as 1638 there were at least two ordi- 
naries, as taverns were then called, in Boston. 
That they were no ordinary taverns will at 
once occur to every one who considers the means then 
employed to secure sobriety and good order in them. 
For example, Josselyn says that when a stranger went 
into one for the purpose of refreshing the inner man, 
he presently found a constable at his elbow, who, it 
appeared, was there to see to it that the guest called 
for no more liquor than seemed good for him. If he 
did so, the beadle peremptorily countermanded the 
order, himself fixing the quantity to be drank ; and from 
his decision there was no appeal. 

Of these early ordinaries the earliest known to be 
licensed goes as far back as 1634, when Samuel Cole, 
comfit-maker, kept it. A kind of interest naturally 
goes with the spot of ground on which this the first 
house of public entertainment in the New England 
metropolis stood. On this point all the early authori- 
ties seem to have been at fault. Misled by the meagre 

19 



20 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

record in the Book of Possessions, the zealous antiqua- 
ries of former years had always located Cole's Inn in 
what is now Merchants' Kow. Since Thomas Lechford's 
Note Book has been printed, the copy of a deed, dated 
in the year 1638, in which Cole conveys part of his 
dwelling, wdth brew-house, etc., has been brouc^ht to 
light. The estate noted here is the one situated next 
northerly from the well-known Old Corner Bookstore, 
on Washington Street. It would, therefore, appear, be- 
yond reasonable doubt, that Cole's Inn stood in what 
was already the high street of the town, nearly opposite 
Governor Winthrop's, which gives greater point to my 
Lord Leigh's refusal to accept Winthrop's proffered hos- 
pitality when his lordship was sojourning under Cole's 
roof-tree. 

In his New England Tragedies, Mr. Longfellow intro- 
duces Cole, who is made to say, — 

"But the 'Three Mariners' is an orderly, 
Most orderly, quiet, and respectable house." 

Cole, certainly, could have had no other than a poet's 
license for calling his house by this name, as it is never 
mentioned otherwise than as CoUs Inn. 

Another of these worthy landlords was William Hud- 
son, who had leave to keep an ordinary in 1640. From 
his occupation of baker, he easily stepped into the con- 
genial employment of innkeeper. Hudson was among 
the earliest settlers of Boston, and for many years is 
found most active in town affairs. His name is on the 



THE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 21 

list of those who were admitted freemen of the Colony, 
in May, 1631. As his son William also followed the 
same calling, the distinction of Senior and Junior be- 
comes necessary when speaking of them. 

Hudson's house is said to have stood on the ground 
now occupied by the New England Bank, which, if true, 
would make this the most noted of tavern stands in aU 
New England, or rather in all the colonies, as the same 
site afterward became known as the Bunch of Grapes. 
We shaU have much occasion to notice it under that 
title. In Hudson's time the appearance of things about 
this locality was very different from what is seen to-day. 
All the earlier topographical features have been obliter- 
ated. Then the tide flowed nearly up to the tavern 
door, so making the spot a landmark of the ancient 
shore line as the first settlers had found it. Even so 
simple a statement as this will serve to show us how 
difficult is the task of fixing, with approximate accuracy, 
residences or sites on the water front, going as far back 
as the original occupants of the soil. 

Next in order of time comes the house called the 
E[ing's Arms. This celebrated inn stood at the head of 
the dock, in what is now Dock Square. Hugh Gunnison, 
victualler, kept a " cooke's shop " in his dwelling there 
some time before 1642, as he was then allowed to sell 
beer. The next year he humbly prayed the court for 
leave " to draw the wyne which was spent in his house," 
in the room of having his customers get it elsewhere, 
and then come into his place the worse for liquor, — 



22 OLD BOSTOX TAVERNS. 

a proceeding which he justly thought unfair as well as 
unprotitable dealing. He asks this favor in order that 
"God be not dishonored nor his people grieved." 

We know that Gunnison was favored with the custom 
of the General Court, because we tind that body voting 
to defray the ex^xMises incurred for being entertained in 
his house " out of y'' custom of wines or y^ wampum of 
y^ Narragansetts." 

Gunnison's house presently took the not always popu- 
lar name of the King's Ar7ns, which it seems to have 
kept until the general overturning of thrones in the Old 
Country moved the Puritan rulei^ to order the taking 
down of the King's arms, and setting up of the State's 
in their stead; for, until the restoration of the Stuarts, 
the tavern is the same, we think, known as the State's 
Arms, It then loyally resumed its old insignia again. 
Such little incidents show us how taverns frequently 
denote the fluctuation of popular opinion. 

As Gunnison's bill of fare has not come down to us, 
we are at a loss to know just how the colonial fathers 
fared at his hospitable board ; but so long as the ' treat ' 
was had at the public expense we cannot doubt that 
the dinners were quite as good as the larder alVorded, 
or that full justice was done to the contents of mine 
host's cellar by those worthy legislators and lawgivers. 

When Hugh Gunnison sold out the King's Arms to 
Henry Shrimpton and others, in 1651, for £600 sterling, 
the rooms in his house all bore some distinguishing 
name or title. For instance, one chamber was called 



TTTE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 23 

the "Exchange." Wo liavf; somotirrjcH wondered whether 
it was so named in consequence of its use by merchants 
of the town as a regular place of meeting. The chamber 
refernul to was furnished with "one half-headed bedstead 
with Idcw [Hilars." 'J'lHjnj was also a "Court Chamber," 
which, doubtless, was the one assigned to the General 
Court when dining at Gunnison's. Still other rooms went 
by such names as the " London " and " Star." The hall 
contained three small ror>ms, or stalls, with a bar con- 
venient to it. This room was for public use, but the 
apartments upstairs were for the " quality " alone, or for 
those who paid for the privilege of being private. All 
remember how, in " She Stoops to Conquer," Miss Hard- 
castle is made to say : " Attend the Lion, there ! — Pipes 
and tobacco for the Angel ! — The Lamb has been out- 
rageous this half hour ! " 

The Castle Tavern was another house of public resort, 
kept by William Hudson, Jr., at what is now the upper 
corner of Elm Street and Dock Square. Just at what 
time this noted tavern came into being is a matter ex- 
tremely difficult to be determined ; but, as we find a 
colonial order billeting soldiers in it in 1656, we con- 
clude it to have been a public inn at that early day. 
At this time Hudson is styled lieutenant. If Whitman's 
records of the Artillery Company be taken as correct, 
the younger Hudson had seen service in the wars. With 
" divers other of our best military men," he had crossed 
the ocean to take service in the Parliamentary forces, in 
which he held the rank of ensign, returning home to 



24 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

New England, after an absence of two years, to find his 
wife publicly accused of faithlessness to her marriage 
vows. 

The presence of these old inns at the head of the 
town dock naturally points to that locality as the 
business centre, and it continued to hold that relation 
to the commerce of Boston until, by the building of 
wharves and piers, ships were enabled to come up to 
them for the purpose of unloading. Before that time 
their cargoes were landed in boats and lighters. Far 
back, in the beginning of things, when everything had 
to be transported by water to and from the neighboring 
settlements, this was naturally the busiest place in 
Boston. In time Dock Square became, as its name in- 
dicates, a sort of delta for the confluent lanes running 
down to the dock below it. 

Here, for a time, was centred all the movement to 
and from the shipping, and, we may add, about all the 
commerce of the infant settlement. Naturally the vicin- 
ity was most convenient for exposing for sale all sorts 
of merchandise as it was landed, which fact soon led to 
the establishment of a corn market on one side of the 
dock and a fish market on the other side. 

The Royal Exchange stood on the site of the Mer- 
chants' Bank, in State Street. In this high-sounding 
name we find a sure sign that the town had outgrown 
its old traditions and was making progress toward more 
citified ways. As time wore on a town-house had been 
built in the market-place. Its ground floor was pur- 




THE ROTAL EXCHANGE TAVERN (Merchants Bank site, State Street) 
The tall white building, mail coach just leaving 



THE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 25 

posely left open for the citizens to walk about, discuss 
the news, or bargain in. In the popular phrase, they 
were said to meet "on 'change," and thereafter this 
place of meeting was known as the Exchange, which 
name the tavern and lane soon took to themselves as 
a natural right. 

A glance at the locality in question shows the choice 
to have been made with a shrewd eye to the future. 
For example : the house fronted upon the town market- 
place, where, on stated days, fairs or markets for the 
sale of country products were held. On one side the 
tavern was flanked by the well-trodden lane which led 
to the town dock. From daily chaffering in a small 
way, those who wished to buy or sell came to meet 
here regularly. It also became the place for popular 
gatherings, — on such occasions of ceremony as the pub- 
lishing of proclamations, mustering of troops, or punish- 
ment of criminals, — all of which vindicates its title to 
be called the heart of the little commonwealth. 

Indeed, on this spot the pulse of its daily life beat 
with ever-increasing vigor. Hither came the country 
people, with their donkeys and panniers. Here in the 
open air they set up their little booths to tempt the 
town's folk with the display of fresh country butter, 
cheese and eggs, fruits or vegetables. Here came the 
citizen, with his basket on his arm, exchanging his 
stock of news or opinions as he bargained for his 
dinner, and so caught the drift of popular sentiment 
beyond his own chimney-corner. 



26 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

To loiter a little longer at the sign of the Boyal 
Exchange, which, by all accounts, always drew the best 
custom of the town, we find that, as long ago as Luke 
Vardy's time, it was a favorite resort of the Masonic 
fraternity, Vardy being a brother of the order. Accord- 
ing to a poetic squib of the time, — 

"'Twas he who oft dispelled their sadness, 
And filled the breth'ren's hearts with gladness." 

After the burning of the town-house, near by, in the 
winter of 1747, had turned the General Court out of 
doors, that body finished its sessions at Vardy's ; nor do 
we find any record of legislation touching Luke's tap- 
room on that occasion. 

Vardy's was the resort of the young bloods of the 
town, who spent their evenings in drinking, gaming, or 
recounting their love affairs. One July evening, in 1728, 
two young men belongin^^ to the first families in the 
province quarreled over their cards or wine. A chal- 
lenge passed. At that time the sword was the weapon 
of gentlemen. The parties repaired to a secluded part 
of the Common, stripped for the encounter, and fought 
it out by the light of the moon. After a few passes 
one of the combatants, named Woodbridge, received a 
mortal thrust; the survivor was hurried off by his 
friends on board a ship, which immediately set sail. 
This being the first duel ever fought in the town, it 
naturally made a great stir. 

We cannot leave the neighborhood without at least 




JOSEPH GREEN 
Noted Boston merchant and "wit, died in England, 



SATIPwE ON LUKE VARDY OF THE EOYAL EXCHANGE TAVERN 
By Joseph Green at a Masonic Meeting, 1749 

" Where's honest Luke, — that cook from London ? 
For without Ln.ke the Lodge is undone ; 
'Twas he who oft dispelled their sadness. 
And flll'd the Brethren'' s heart with gladness. 
For them his ample bowls o'erflow'd. 
His table groan'd beneath its load ; 
For them he stretch'd his utmost art. — 
Their honours grateful they impart. 
Luke in return is made a brother. 
As good and true as any other ; 
And still, though broke with age and wine. 
Preserves the token and the ftign.''' 

— "Entertainments for a Winter's Evening." 



TEE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 27 

making mention of the Massacre of the 5th of March, 
1770, which took place in front of the tavern. It 
was then a three-story brick house, the successor, it is 
believed, of the first building erected on the spot and 
destroyed in the great fire of 1711. On the opposite 
corner of the lane stood the Eoyal Custom House, where 
a sentry was walking his lonely round on that frosty 
night, little dreaming of the part he was to play in the 
coming tragedy. With the assault made by the mob 
on this sentinel, the fatal affray began which sealed 
the cause of the colonists with their blood. At this 
time the tavern enjoyed the patronage of the newly 
arrived British officers of the army and navy as well as 
of citizens or placemen, of the Tory party, so that its 
inmates must have witnessed, with peculiar feelings, 
every incident of that night of terror. Consequently 
the house with its sign is shown in Eevere's well-known 
picture of the massacre. 

One more old hostelry in this vicinity merits a word 
from us. Though not going so far back or coming down 
to so late a date as some of the houses already men- 
tioned, nevertheless it has ample claim not to be passed 
by in silence. 

The Anchor, otherwise the "Blew Anchor," stood on 
the ground now occupied by the Globe newspaper build- 
ing. In early times it divided with the State's Arms 
the patronage of the magistrates, who seem to have 
had a custom, perhaps not yet quite out of date, of 
adjourning to the ordinary over the way after trans- 



28 



OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 



acting the business which had brought them together. 
So we find that the commissioners of the United Colonies, 
and even the reverend clergy, when they were summoned 
to the colonial capital to attend a synod, were usually 
entertained here at the Anchor. 

This fact presupposes a house having what we should 
now call the latest improvements, or at least possessing 
some advantages over its older rivals in the excellence 
of its table or cellarage. When Eobert Turner kept it, 
his rooms were distinguished, after the manner of the 
old London inns, as the Cross Keys, Green Dragon, 
Anchor and Castle Chamber, Eose and Sun, Low Koom, 
so making old associations bring in custom. 

It was in 1686 that John Dunton, a London bookseller 
whom Pope lampoons in the "Dunciad," came over to 
Boston to do a little business in the bookselling line. 
The vicinity of the town-house was then crowded with 
book-shops, all of which drove a thriving trade in print- 
ing and selling sermons, almanacs, or fugitive essays of 
a sort now quite unknown outside of a few eager col- 
lectors. The time was a critical one in New England, as 
she was feeling the tremor of the coming revolt which 
sent King James into exile ; yet to read Dunton's ac- 
count of men and things as he thought he saw them, 
one would imagine him just dropped into Arcadia, rather 
than breathing the threatening atmosphere of a country 
that was tottering on the edge of revolution. 

But it is to him, at any rate, that we are indebted 
for a portrait of the typical landlord, — one whom we 




JOHN DUNTON, Bookseller, 1659-1733 



THE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 29 

feel at once we should like to have known, and, having 
known, to cherish in our memory. With a flourish of 
his goose-quill Dunton introduces us to George Monk, 
landlord of the Anchor, who, somehow, reminds us of 
Chaucer's Harry Bailly, and Ben Jonson's Goodstock. 
And we more than suspect from what follows that 
Dunton had tasted the "Anchor" Madeira, not only 
once, but again. 

George Monk, mine host of the Anchor, Dunton tells 
us, was "a person so remarkable that, had I not been 
acquainted with him, it would be a hard matter to 
make any New England man believe that I had been 
in Boston; for there was no one house in all the town 
more noted, or where a man might meet with better 
accommodation. Besides he was a brisk and jolly man, 
whose conversation was coveted by all his guests as 
the life and spirit of the company." 

In this off-hand sketch we behold the traditional pub- 
lican, now, alas ! extinct. Gossip, newsmonger, banker, 
pawnbroker, expediter of men or effects, the intimate 
association so long existing between landlord and public 
under the old regime everywhere brought about a still 
closer one among the guild itself, so establishing a net- 
work of communication coextensive with all the great 
routes from Maine to Georgia. 

Situated just " around the corner " from the council- 
chamber, the Anchor became, as we have seen, the 
favorite haunt of members of the government, and so 
acquired something of an official character and stand- 



30 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

ing. We have strong reason to believe that, under the 
mellowing influence of the punch-bowl, those antique 
men of iron mould and mien could now and then crack 
a grim jest or tell a story or possibly troll a love-ditty, 
with grave gusto. At any rate, we find Chief Justice 
Sewall jotting down in his "Diary" the familiar sentence, 
"The deputies treated and I treated." And, to tell the 
truth, we would much prefer to think of the colonial 
fathers as possessing even some human frailties rather 
than as the statues now replacing their living forms 
and features in our streets. 

But now and then we can imagine the noise of great 
merriment making the very windows of some of these 
old hostelries rattle again. We learn that the Grey- 
hound was a respectable public house, situated in Eox- 
bury, and of very early date too ; for the venerable and 
saintly Eliot lived upon one side and his pious colleague, 
Samuel Danforth, on the other. Yet notwithstanding 
its being, as it were, hedged in between two such emi- 
nent pillars of the church, the godly Danforth bitterly 
complains of the provocation which frequenters of the 
tavern sometimes tried him withal, and naively informs 
us that, when from his study windows he saw any of 
the town dwellers loitering there he would go down 
and "chide them away." 

It is related in the memoirs of the celebrated Indian 
fighter, Captain Benjamin Church, that he and Captain 
Converse once found themselves in the neighborhood of 
a tavern at the South End of Boston. As old comrades 



THE EARLIER ORDINARIES. 31 

they wished to go in and take a parting glass together; 
but, on searching their pockets, Church could find only- 
sixpence and Converse not a penny to bless himself 
with, so they were compelled to forego this pledge of 
friendship and part with thirsty lips. Going on to 
Koxbury, Church luckily found an old neighbor of his, 
who generously lent him money enough to get home 
with. He tells the anecdote in order to show to what 
straits the parsimony of the Massachusetts rulers had 
reduced him, their great captain, to whom the colony 
owed so much. 

The Red Lion, in North Street, was one of the oldest 
public houses, if not the oldest, to be opened at the 
North End of the town. It stood close to the waterside, 
the adjoining wharf and the lane running down to it 
both belonging to the house and both taking its name. 
The old Eed Lion Lane is now Eichmond Street, and 
the wharf has been filled up, so making identification 
of the old sites difficult, to say the least. Nicholas Up- 
shall, the stout-hearted Quaker, kept the Bed Lion as 
early as 1654. At his death the land on which tavern 
and brewhouse stood went to his children. When the 
persecution of his sect began in earnest, Upshall was 
thrown into Boston jail, for his outspoken condemnation 
of the authorities and their rigorous proceedings toward 
this people. He was first doomed to perpetual imprison- 
ment. A long and grievous confinement at last broke 
Upshall's health, if it did not, ultimately, prove the 
cause of his death. 



32 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

The Ship Tavern stood at the head of Clark's Wharf, 
or on the southwest corner of North and Clark streets, 
according to present boundaries. It was an ancient 
brick building, dating as far back as 1650 at least. 
John Vyal kept it in 1663. When Clark's Wharf was 
built it was the principal one of the town. Large ships 
came directly up to it, so making the tavern a most 
convenient resort for masters of vessels or their passen- 
gers, and associating it with the locality itself. King 
Charles's commissioners lodged at Vyal's house, when 
they undertook the task of bringing down the pride of 
the rulers of the colony a peg. One of them. Sir Eobert 
Carr, pummeled a constable who attempted to arrest him 
in this house. He afterward refused to obey a summons 
to answer for the assault before the magistrates, loftily 
alleging His Majesty's commission as superior to any 
local mandate whatever. He thus retaliated Governor 
Leverett's affront to the commissioners in keeping his hat 
on his head when their authority to act was being read 
to the council. But Leverett was a man who had served 
under Cromwell, and had no love for the cavaliers or 
they for him. The commissioners sounded trumpets and 
made proclamations; but the colony kept on the even 
tenor of its way, in defiance of the royal mandate, equally 
regardless of the storm gathering about it, as of the 
magnitude of the conflict in which it was about to 
plunge, all unarmed and unprepared. 




III. 

IN REVOLUTIONAKY TIMES. 

ITCH thoroughfares as King Street, just before 
the Eevolution, were filled with horsemen, don- 
keys, oxen, and long-tailed trucks, with a sprink- 
ling of one-horse chaises and coaches of the kind seen 
in Hogarth's realistic pictures of London life. To these 
should be added the chimney-sweeps, wood-sawyers, 
market-women, soldiers, and sailors, who are now quite 
as much out of date as the vehicles themselves are. 
There being no sidewalks, the narrow footway was pro- 
tected, here and there, sometimes by posts, sometimes by 
an old cannon set upright at the corners, so that the 
traveller dismounted from his horse or alighted from 
coach or chaise at the very threshold. 

Next in the order of antiquity, as well as fame, to 
the taverns already named, comes the Bunch of Grapes 
in King, now State Street. The plain three-story stone 
building situated at the upper comer of Kilby Street 
stands where the once celebrated tavern did. Three 
gilded clusters of grapes dangled temptingly over the 
door before the eye of the passer-by. Apart from its 



34 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

palate-tickling suggestions, a pleasant aroma of antiquity 
surrounds this symbol, so dear to all devotees of Bacchus 




THE BUNCH OF GRAPES. 

from immemorial time. In Measure for Pleasure the 
clown says, *"Twas in the Bunch of Grapes, where in- 
deed you have a delight to sit, have you not?" And 
Froth answers, "I have so, because it is an open room 
and good for winter." 

This house goes back to the year 1712, when Francis 
Holmes kept it, and perhaps further still, though we do 
not meet with it under this title before Holmes's time. 
From that time, until after the Eevolution, it appears to 
have always been open as a public inn, and, as such, is 
feelingly referred to by one old traveller as the best 
punch-house to be found in all Boston. 

When the line came to be drawn between conditional 
loyalty, and loyalty at any rate, the Bunch of Grapes 
became the resort of the High Whigs, who made it a 
sort of political headquarters, in which patriotism only 
passed current, and it was known as the Whig taverU' 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 35 

With military occupation and bayonet rule, still further 
intensifying public feeling, the line between Whig and 
Tory houses was drawn at the threshold. It was then 
kept by Marston. Cold welcome awaited the appear- 
ance of scarlet regimentals or a Tory phiz there ; so 
gentlemen of that side of politics also formed cliques 
of their own at other houses, in which the talk and 
the toasts were more to their liking, and where they 
could abuse the Yankee rebels over their port to their 
heart's content. 

But, apart from political considerations, one or two 
incidents have given the Bunch of Grapes a kind of 
pre-eminence over all its contemporaries, and, therefore, 
ought not to be passed over when the house is men- 
tioned. 

On Monday, July 30, 1733, the first grand lodge of 
Masons in America was organized here by Henry Price, 
a Boston tailor, who had received authority from Lord 
Montague, Grand Master of England, for the purpose. 

Again, upon the evacuation of Boston by the royal 
troops, this house became the centre for popular demon- 
strations. First, His Excellency, General Washington, 
was handsomely entertained there. Some months later, 
after hearing the Declaration read from the balcony of 
the Town-house, the populace, having thus made their 
appeal to the King of kings, proceeded to pull down 
from the public buildings the royal arms which had dis- 
tinguished them, and, gathering them in a heap in front 
of the tavern, made a bonfire of them, little imagining. 



38 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

certainly not an exorbitant one. In half an hour after 
the cloth was removed the table was usually deserted. 

The British Coffee-House was one of the first inns to 
take to itself the newly imported title. It stood on the 
site of the granite building numbered 66 State Street, 
and was, as its name implies, as emphatically the head- 
quarters of the out-and-out loyalists as the Bunch of 
Grapes, over the way, was of the unconditional Whigs. 
A notable thing about it was the performance there in 

1750, probably by amateurs, of Otway's "Orphan," an 
event which so outraged public sentiment as to cause 
the enactment of a law prohibiting the performance of 
stage plays under severe penalties. 

Perhaps an even more notable occurrence was the 
formation in this house of the first association in Boston 
taking to itself the distinctive name of a Club. The 
Merchants' Club, as it was called, met here as early as 

1751. Its membership was not restricted to merchants, 
as might be inferred from its title, though they were pos- 
sibly in a majority, but included crown officers, members 
of the bar, military and naval officers serving on the 
station, and gentlemen of high social rank of every 
shade of opinion. No others were eligible to member- 
ship. 

Up to a certain time this club, undoubtedly, repre- 
sented the best culture, the most brilliant wit, and most 
delightful companionship that could be brought together 
in all the colonies ; but when the political sky grew 
dark the old harmony was at an end, and a division 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 39 

became inevitable, the Whigs going over to the Bunch 
of Grapes, and thereafter taking to themselves the name 
of the Whig Club.i 

Under date of 1771, John Adams notes down in his 
Diary this item : " Spent the evening at Cordis's, in the 
front room towards the Long Wharf, where the Mer- 
chants' Club has met these twenty years. It seems 
there is a schism in that church, a rent in that gar- 
ment." Cordis was then the landlord.^ 

Social and business meetings of the bar were also held 
at the Coffee-House, at one of which Josiah Quincy, Jr. 
was admitted. By and by the word "American" was 
substituted for "British" on the Coffee-Rouse sign, and 
for some time it flourished under its new title of the 
American Coffee-House. 

But before the clash of opinions had brought about 

1 Cordis's bill for a dinner given by Governor Hancock to the 
Fusileers at this house in 1792 is a veritable curiosity in its 
way: — 

£ 8. p. 

136 Bowls of Punch 15 6 

80 Dmners 8 

21 Bottles of Sherry 4 14 6 

Brandy 2 6 

2 A punch-bowl on which is engraved the names of seventeen 
members of the old Whig Club is, or was, in the possession of R. 
C. Mackay of Boston. Besides those already mentioned, Dr. Church, 
Dr. Young, Richard Derby of Salem, Benjamin Kent, Nathaniel 
Barber, William Mackay, and Colonel Timothy Bigelow of Worces- 
ter were also influential members. The Club corresponded with 
Wilkes, Saville, Barre, and Sawbridge, — all leading Whigs, and all 
opponents of the coercive measures directed against the Americans. 



40 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

the secession just mentioned, the best room in this house 
held almost nightly assemblages of a group of patriotic 
men, who were actively consolidating all the elements 
of opposition into a single force. Not inaptly they might 
be called the Old Guard of the Revolution. The prin- 
cipals were Otis, Gushing, John Adams, Pitts, Dr. Warren, 
and Molyneux. Probably no minutes of their proceed- 
ings were kept, for the excellent reason that they verged 
upon, if they did not overstep, the treasonable. 

His talents, position at the bar, no less than intimate 
knowledge of the questions which were then so pro- 
foundly agitating the public mind, naturally made Otis 
the leader in these conferences, in which the means for 
counteracting the aggressive measures then being put 
in force by the ministry formed the leading topic of 
discussion. His acute and logical mind, mastery of 
public law, intensity of purpose, together with the keen 
and biting satire which he knew so well how to call 
to his aid, procured for Otis the distinction of being the 
best-hated man on the Whig side of politics, because he 
was the one most feared. Whether in the House, the 
court-room, the taverns, or elsewhere, Otis led the van 
of resistance. In military phrase, his policy was the 
offensive-defensive. He was no respecter of ignorance in 
high places. Once when Governor Bernard sneeringly 
interrupted Otis to ask him who the authority was 
whom he was citing, the patriot coldly replied, "He 
is a very eminent jurist, and none the less so for being 
unknown to your Excellency." 



IN BEVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 41 

It was in the Coffee-Rouse that Otis, in attempting to 
pull a Tory nose, was set upon and so brutally beaten 
by a place-man named Eobinson, and his friends, as to 
ultimately cause the loss of his reason and final with- 
drawal from public life. John Adams says he was 
"basely assaulted by a well-dressed banditti, with a 
commissioner of customs at their head." What they had 
never been able to compass by fair argument, the Tories 
now succeeded in accomplishing by brute force, since 
Otis was forever disqualified from taking part in the 
struggle which he had all along foreseen was coming, — 
and which, indeed, he had done more to bring about 
than any single man in the colonies. 

Connected with this affair is an anecdote which we 
think merits a place along with it. It is related by 
John Adams, who was an interested listener. William 
Molyneux had a petition before the legislature which 
did not succeed to his wishes, and for several evenings 
he had wearied the company with his complaints of 
services, losses, sacrifices, etc., always winding up with 
saying, "That a man who has behaved as I have should 
be treated as I am is intolerable," with much more to 
the same effect. Otis had said nothing, but the whole 
club were disgusted and out of patience, when he rose 
from his seat with the remark, " Come, come. Will, 
quit this subject, and let us enjoy ourselves. I also 
have a list of grievances ; will you hear it ? " The club 
expected some fun, so all cried out, " Ay ! ay ! let 
us hear your list." 



42 OLB BOSTON TAVERNS. 

"Well, then, in the first place, I resigned the office 
of advocate-general, which I held from the crown, which 
produced me — how much do you think?" 

"A great deal, no doubt," said Molyneux. 

"Shall we say two hundred sterling a year?" 

"Ay, more, I believe," said Molyneux. 

"Well, let it be two hundred. That, for ten years, is 
two thousand. In the next place, I have been obliged 
to rehnquish the greater part of my business at the 
bar. Will you set that at two hundred pounds more ? " 

"Oh, I believe it much more than that!" was the 
answer. 

"Well, let it be two hundred. This, for ten years, 
makes two thousand. You allow, then, I have lost 
four thousand pounds sterling?" 

"Ay, and more too," said Molyneux. Otis went 
on: "In the next place, I have lost a hundred friends, 
among whom were men of the first rank, fortune, and 
power in the province. At what price will you esti- 
mate them?" 

"D — n them!" said Molyneux, "at nothing. You 
are better off without them than with them." 

A loud laugh from the company greeted this sally. 

"Be it so," said Otis. "In the next place, I have 
made a thousand enemies, among whom are the gov- 
ernment of the province and the nation. What do you 
think of this item?" 

"That is as it may happen," said Molyneux, reflec- 
tively. 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 43 

"In the next place, you know I love pleasure, but 
I have renounced pleasure for ten years. What is 
that worth ? " 

" No great matter : you have made politics your amuse- 
ment." 

A hearty laugh. 

"In the next place, I have ruined as fine health as 
nature ever gave to man." 

" That is melancholy indeed ; there is nothing to be 
said on that point," Molyneux replied. 

"Once more," continued Otis, holding down his head 
before Molyneux, '' look upon this head ! " ( there was 
a deep, half-closed scar, in which a man might lay his 
finger) — "and, what is worse my friends think I have 
a monstrous crack in my skulL'' 

This made all the company look grave, and had the 
desired effect ot making Molyneux who was really a 
good companion, heartily ashamed of his childish com- 
plaints. 

Another old inn of assured celebrity was the Crom- 
well's Head, in School Street. This was a two-story 
wooden building of venerable appearance, conspicuously 
displaying over the footway a grim likeness of the 
Lord Protector, it is said much to the disgust of the 
ultra royalists, who, rather than pass underneath it, 
habitually took the other side of the way. Indeed, 
some of the hot-headed Tories were for serving Crom- 
welVs Head as that man of might had served their 
martyr king's. So, when the town came under martial 



44 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 




law, mine host Brackett, whose family kept the house 
for half a century or more, had to take down his sign, 
and conceal it until such time as the "British hire- 
lings " should have made their inglorious exit from the 
town. 

After Braddock's crushing defeat in the West, a young 
Virginian colonel, named George Washington, was sent 
by Governor Dinwiddie to confer with Governor Shirley, 
who was the great war governor of his day, as Andrew 
was of our own, with the difference that Shirley then 
had the general direction of military affairs, from the 
Ohio to the St. Lawrence, pretty much in his own 
hands. Colonel Washington took up his quarters at 
Brackett's, little imagining, perhaps, that twenty years 
later he would enter Boston at the head of a victorious 
republican army, after having quartered his troops in 
Governor Shirley's splendid mansion. 

Major-General the Marquis Chastellux, of Eocham- 



mm^^. 







.^L.^ X/-'-' 



.^■ 



l/r/ff,- / 



, /Y(>r/r /f{'c/l> 






A 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 45 

beau's auxiliary army, also lodged at the CromwelVs 
Head when he was in Boston in 1782. He met there 
the renowned Paul Jones, whose excessive vanity led 
him to read to the company in the coffee-room some 
verses composed in his own honor, it is said, by Lady 
Craven. 

From the tavern of the gentry we pass on to the 
tavern of the mechanics, and of the class which Abra- 
ham Lincoln has forever distinguished by the title of 
the common people. 

Among such houses the Salutation, which stood at 
the junction of Salutation with North Street, is deserv- 
ing of a conspicuous place. Its vicinity to the ship- 
yards secured for it the custom of the sturdy North 
End shipwrights, caulkers, gravers, sparmakers, and the 
like, — a numerous body, who, while patriots to the 
backbone, were also quite clannish and independent in 
their feelings and views, and consequently had to be 
managed with due regard to their class prejudices, as 
in politics they always went in a body. Shrewd poli- 
ticians, like Samuel Adams, understood this. Governor 
Phips owed his elevation to it. As a body, therefore, 
these mechanics were extremely formidable, whether at 
the polls or in carrying out the plans of their leaders. 
To their meetings the origin of the word caucus is 
usually referred, the word itself undoubtedly having 
come into familiar use as a short way- of saying caulkers' 
meetings. 

The Salutation became the point of fusion between 



46 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

leading Whig politicians and the shipwrights. More 
than sixty influential mechanics attended the first meet- 
ing, called in 1772, at which Dr. Warren drew up a 
code of by-laws. Some leading mechanic, however, was 
always chosen to be the moderator. The "caucus," as 
it began to be called, continued to meet in this place 
until after the destruction of the tea, when, for greater 
secrecy, it became advisable to transfer the sittings to 
another place, and then the Green Dragon, in Union 
Street, was selected. 

The Salutation had a sign of the sort that is said to 
tickle the popular fancy for what is quaint or humorous. 
It represented two citizens, with hands extended, bow- 
ing and scraping to each other in the most approved 
fashion. So the North-Enders nicknamed it "The Two 
Palaverers," by which name it was most commonly 
known. This house, also, was a reminiscence of the 
Salutation in Newgate Street, London, which was the 
favorite haunt of Lamb and Coleridge. 

The Green Dragon will probably outlive all its con- 
temporaries in the popular estimation. In the first 
place a mural tablet, with a dragon sculptured in relief, 
has been set in the wall of the building that now stands 
upon some part of the old tavern site. It is the only 
one of the old inns to be so distinguished. Its sign 
was the fabled dragon, in hammered metal, projecting 
out above the door, and was probably the counterpart 
of the Green Dragon in Bishopsgate Street, London. 

As a public house this one goes back to 1712, when 



IK REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 47 




THE GREEN DRAGON. 

Richard Pullen kept it; and we also find it noticed, in 
1715, as a place for entering horses to be run for a 
piece of plate of the value of twenty-five pounds. In 
passing, we may as well mention the fact that Eevere 
Beach was the favorite race-ground of that day. The 
house was well situated for intercepting travel to and 
• from the northern counties. 

To resume the historical connection between the Salu- 
tation and Green Dragon, its worthy successor, it appears 
that Dr. Warren continued to be the commanding figure 
after the change of location; and, if he was not already 
the popular idol, he certainly came little short of it, for 
everything pointed to him as the coming leader whom 
the exigency should raise up. Samuel Adams was 
popular in a different way. He was cool, far-sighted, 
and persistent, but he certainly lacked the magnetic 
quality. Warren was much younger, far more impetu- 
ous and aggressive, — in short, he possessed all the more 
brilliant qualities for leadership which Adams lacked. 
Moreover, he was a fluent and effective speaker, of 



48 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

graceful person, handsome, affable, with frank and win- 
ning manners, all of which added no little to his popu- 
larity. Adams inspired respect, Warren confidence. As 
Adams himself said, he belonged to the "cabinet," 
while Warren's whole make-up as clearly marked him 
for the field. 

In all the local events preliminary to our revolu- 
tionary struggle, this Greeoi Dragon section or junto 
constituted an active and positive force. It represented 
the muscle of the Kevolution. Every member was 
sworn to secrecy, and of them all one only proved 
recreant to his oath. 

These were the men who gave the alarm on the eve 
of the battle of Lexington, who spirited away icannon 
under General Gage's nose, and who in so many in- 
stances gallantly fought in the ranks of the republican 
army. Wanting a man whom he could fully trust, 
Warren early singled out Paul Eevere for the most 
important services. He found him as true as steel. A 
peculiar kind of friendship seems to have sprung up 
between the two, owing, perhaps, to the same daring 
spirit common to both. So when Warren sent word to 
Revere that he must instantly ride to Lexington or all 
would be lost, he knew that, if it lay in the power of 
man to do it, the thing would be done. 

Besides the more noted of the tavern clubs there were 
numerous private coteries, some exclusively composed of 
politicians, others more resembling our modern debat- 
ing societies than anything else. These clubs usually 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 49 

met at the houses of the members themselves, so ex- 
erting a silent influence on the body politic. The non- 
importation agreement originated at a private club in 
1773. But all were not on the patriot side. The crown 
had equally zealous supporters, who met and talked 
the situation over without any of the secrecy which 
prudence counselled the other side to use in regard to 
their proceedings. Some associations endeavored to hold 
the balance between the factions by standing neutral. 
They deprecated the encroachments of the mother- 
country, but favored passive obedience. Dryden has 
described them : 

"Not Whigs nor Tories they, nor this nor that, 
Nor birds nor beasts, but just a kind of bat, — 
A twilight animal, true to neither cause, 
With Tory wings but Whiggish teeth and claws." 

It should be mentioned that Gridley, the father of 
the Boston Bar, undertook, in 1765, to organize a law 
club, with the purpose of making head against Otis, 
Thatcher, and Auchmuty. John Adams and Fitch were 
Gridley's best men. They met first at Ballard's, and 
subsequently at each other's chambers; their "sodality," 
as they called it, being for professional study and ad- 
vancement. Gridley, it appears, was a little jealous of 
his old pupil, Otis, who had beaten him in the famous 
argument on the Writs of Assistance. Mention is also 
made of a club of which Daniel Leonard {Massachu- 
settensis), John Lowell, Elisha Hutchinson, Frank Dana, 



50 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

and Josiah Quincy were members. Similar clubs also 
existed in most of the principal towns in New Eng- 
land. 

The Sons of Liberty adopted the name given by 
Colonel Barr^ to the enemies of passive obedience in 
America. They met in the counting-room of Chase 
and Speakman's distillery, near Liberty Tree.^ Mackin- 
tosh, the man who led the mob in the Stamp Act riots, 
is doubtless the same person who assisted in throwing 
the tea overboard. We hear no more of him after this. 
The " Sons " were an eminently democratic organization, 
as few except mechanics were members. Among them 
were men like Avery, Crafts, and Edes the printer. All 
attained more or less prominence. Edes continued to 
print the Boston Gazette long after the Eevolution. 
During Bernard's administration he was offered the 
whole of the government printing, if he would stop his 
opposition to the measures of the crown. He refused 
the bribe, and his paper was the only one printed in 
America without a stamp, in direct violation of an Act 
of Parliament. The " Sons " pursued their measures with 
such vigor as to create much alarm among the loyalists, 
on whom the Stamp Act riots had made a lasting im- 
pression. Samuel Adams is thought to have influenced 
their proceedings more than any other of the leaders. 
It was by no means a league of ascetics, who had re- 
solved to mortify the flesh, as punch and tobacco were 
liberally used to stimulate the deliberations. 

1 Liberty Tree grew where Liberty Tree Block now stands, corner 
of Essex and Washington Streets. 



IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 51 

No important political association outlived the be- 
ginning of hostilities. All the leaders were engaged in 
the military or civil service on one or the other side. 
Of the circle that "met at the Merchants' three were 
members of the Philadelphia Congress of 1774, one 
was president of the Provincial Congress of Massachu- 
setts, the career of two was closed by death, and that 
of Otis by insanity. 




IV. 



SIGNBOARD HUMOR. 




NOTHER tavern sign, though of later date, was 
that of the Good Woman, at the North End. 
This Good Woman was painted without a head. 




1 The Good Won^i 

Still another board had painted on it a bird, a tree, a 
ship, and a foaming can, with the legend, — 

" This is the bird that never flew, 
This is the tree which never grew, 
This is the ship which never sails, 
This is the can which never fails." 



SIGNBOARD HUMOR. 



53 



The Dog and Pot, Turk's Head, Tun and Bacchus, were 
also old and favorite emblems. Some of the houses 




yx>yyyyyy^^yy^>xy/yyy^^y>y>>>^ 



DOG AND POT. 



which swung these signs were very quaint specimens 
of our early achitecture. So, also, the signs themselves 
were not unfrequently the work of good artists. Smi- 
bert or Copley may have painted some of them. West 
once offered five hundred dollars for a red lion he had 
painted for a tavern sign. 

Not a few boards displayed a good deal of ingenuity 
and mother -wit, which was not without its effect, espe- 
cially upon thirsty Jack, who could hardly be expected 
to resist such an appeal as this one of the Ship in 
Distress : 

"With sorrows I am compass'd round; 
Pray lend a hand, my ship's aground." 

We hear of another signboard hanging out at the 
extreme South End of the town, on which was depicted 
a globe with a man breaking through the crust, like a 



54 OLB BOSTON TAVERNS. 

chicken from its shell. The man's nakedness was sup 
posed to betoken extreme poverty. 

So much for the sign itself. The story goes that 
early one morning a continental regiment was halted 
in front of the tavern, after having just made a forced 
march from Providence. The men were broken down 
with fatigue, bespattered with mud, famishing from hun- 
ger. One of these veterans doubtless echoed the senti- 




"HOW SHALL 1 GET THROUGH THIS WORLD 7" 

ments of all the rest when he shouted out to the man 
on the sign, " 'List, darn ye ! 'List, and you'll get through 
this world fast enough ! " 

In time of war the taverns were favorite recruiting ren- 
dezvous. Those at the waterside were conveniently sit- 
uated for picking up men from among the idlers who 
frequented the tap-rooms. Under date of 1745, when we 
were at war with France, bills were posted in the town 
giving notice to all concerned that, " All gentlemen sailors 
and others, who are minded to go on a cruise off of 



SIGNBOARD HUMOR. 55 

Cape Breton, on board the brigantine HawJc, Captain 
Philip Bass commander, mounting fourteen carriage, and 
twenty swivel guns, going in consort with the brigan- 
tine Banger, Captain Edward Fryer commander, of the 
like force, to intercept the East India, South Sea, and 
other ships bound to Cape Breton, let them repair to 
the Widow Gray's at the Crown Tavern, at the head of 
Clark's Wharf, to go with Captain Bass, or to the Vernon's 
Head, Eichard Smith's, in King Street, to go in the 
Banger. "Gentlemen sailors" is a novel sea-term that 
must have tickled an old salt's fancy amazingly. 

The following notice, given at the same date in the 
most public manner, is now curious reading, "To be 
sold, a likely negro or mulatto boy, about eleven years 
of age." This was in Boston. 

The Eevolution wrought swift and significant change 
in many of the old, favorite signboards. Though the 
idea remained the same, their symbolism was now 
put to a different use. Down came the king's and up 
went the people's arms. The crowns and sceptres, the 
lions and unicorns, furnished fuel for patriotic bonfires 
or were painted out forever. With them disappeared 
the last tokens of the monarchy. The crown was 
knocked into a cocked-hat, the sceptre fell at the un- 
sheathing of the sword. The heads of Washington and 
Hancock, Putnam and Lee, Jones and Hopkins, now 
fired the martial heart instead of Vernon, Hawk, or 
Wolfe. Allegiance to old and cherished traditions was 
swept away as ruthlessly as if it were in truth but the 



56 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

reflection of that loyalty which the colonists had now 
thrown off forever. They had accepted the maxim, that, 
when a subject draws his sword against his king, he 
should throw away the scabbard. 

Such acts are not to be referred to the fickleness of 
popular favor which Horace Walpole has moralized 
upon, or which the poet satirizes in the lines, — 

''Vernon, the Butcher Cumberland, Wolfe, Hawke, 
Prince Ferdinand, Granby, Burgoyne, Keppell, Howe, 
Evil and good have had their tithe of talk, 
And filled their sign-post then like Wellesly now." 

Rather should we credit it to that genuine and impas- 
sioned outburst of patriotic feeling which, having turned 
royalty out of doors, indignantly tossed its worthless 
trappings into the street after it. 

Not a single specimen of the old-time hostelries now 
remains in Boston. All is changed. The demon demo- 
lition is everywhere. Does not this very want of perma- 
nence suggest, with much force, the need of perpetuating 
a noted house or site by some appropriate memorial? 
It is true that a beginning has been made in this direc- 
tion, but much more remains to be done. In this way, 
a great deal of curious and valuable information may be 
picked up in the streets, as all who run may read. It 
has been noticed that very few pass by such memorials 
without stopping to read the inscriptions. Certainly, 
no more popular method of teaching history could well 
be devised. This being done, on a liberal scale, the 



SIGNBOARD HUMOR. 57 

city would still hold its antique flavor through the 
records everywhere displayed on the walls of its build- 
ings, and we should have a home application of the 
couplet : 

"Oh, but a wit can study in the streets, 
And raise his mind above the mob he meets." 




APPENDIX 



<^KtS3» 




APPENDIX. 

BOSTON TAVERIS^S TO THE YEAR 1800. 

HE Anchor, or Blue Anchor. Kobert Turner, 
vintner, came into possession of the estate (Rich- 
ard Fairbanks's) in 1652, died in 1664, and was 
succeeded in the business by his son John, who continued 
it till his own death in 1681 ; Turner's widow married 
George Monck, or Monk, who kept the Anchor until his de- 
cease in 1698 ; his widow carried on the business till 1703, 
when the estate probably ceased to be a tavern. The house 
was destroyed in the great fire of 1711. The old and new 
Globe buildings stand on the site. [See communication of 
William R. Bagnall in Boston BaiUj Globe of April 2, 
1885.] Committees of the General Court used to meet 
here. (Hutchinson Coll., 345, 347.) 

Admiral Vernon, or Vernon's Head, corner of State 
Street and Merchants' Eow. In 1743, Peter Faneuil's 
warehouse was opposite. Eichard Smith kept it in 1745, 
Mary Bean in 1775 ; its sign was a portrait of the admiral. 

American Coffee-House. See British Cojfee-House. 

Black Horse, in Prince Street, formerly Black Horse 
Lane, so named from the tavern as early as 1698. 

Brazen-Head. In Old Cornhill. Though not a tav- 
ern, memorable as the place where the Great Fire of 1760 
originated. 

Bull, lower end of Summer Street, north side ; demol- 
ished 1833 to make room " for the new street from Sea to 

61 



62 APPENDIX. 

Broad," formerly Flounder Lane, now Atlantic Avenue. 
It was then a very old building. Bull's Wharf and Lane 
named for it. 

British Coffee-House, mentioned in 1762. John Bal- 
lard kept it. Cord Cordis, in 1771. 

Bunch of Grapes. Kept by Francis Holmes, 1712; 
William Coffin, 1731-33; Edward Lutwych, 1733; Joshua 
Barker, 1749 ; William Wetherhead, 1750 ; Rebecca Coffin, 
1760 ; Joseph Ingersoll, 1764 - 72. [In 1768 Ingersoll also 
had a wine-cellar next door.] Captain John Marston was 
landlord 1775-78; William Foster, 1782 ; Colonel Dudley 
Colman, 1783; James Vila, 1789, in which year he re- 
moved to Concert Hall; Thomas Lobdell, 1789. Trinity 
Church was organized in this house. It was often de- 
scribed as being at the head of Long Wharf. 

Castle Tavern, afterward the George Tavern. North- 
east by Wing's Lane (Elm Street), front or southeast by 
Dock Square. For an account of Hudson's marital troubles, 
see Winthrop's New England, 11. 249. Another house of 
the same name is mentioned in 1675 and 1693. A still 
earlier name was the "Blew Bell," 1673. It was in 
Mackerel Lane (Kilby Street), corner of Liberty Square. 

Cole's Inn. See the referred-to deed in Proc. Am. Ant. 
Soc.j VII. p. 51. For the episode of Lord Leigh consult 
Old Landmarks of Boston, p. 109. 

Cromwell's Head, by Anthony Brackett, 1760 ; by his 
widow, 1764 - 68 ; later by Joshua Brackett. A two-story 
wooden house advertised to be sold, 1802. 

CroTiTi Coffee-House. First house on Long Wharf. 
Thomas Selby kept it 1718-24; Widow Anna Swords, 
1749 ; then the property of Governor Belcher ; Belcher sold 
to Kichard Smith, innholder, who in 1751 sold to Kobert 
Sherlock. 

Crown Tavern. Widow Day's, head of Clark's Wharf ; 
rendezvous for privateersmen in 1745. 




THE CROWN COFFEE HOUSE (Site of Fidelity Trust Building) 



BOSTON TAVERNS TO THE YEAR 1800. 63 

Cross Tavern, corner of Cross and Ann Streets, 1732; 
Samuel Mattocks advertises, 1729, two young bears "very 
tame" for sale at the Sign of the Cross. Cross Street 
takes its name from the tavern. Perhaps the same as 
the Red Cross, in Ann Street, mentioned in 1746, and 
then kept by John Osborn. Men who had enlisted for 
the Canada expedition were ordered to report there. 

Dog and Pot, at the head of Bartlett's Wharf in Ann 
(North) Street, or, as then described, Fish Street. Bart- 
lett's Wharf was in 1722 next northeast of Lee's shipyard. 

Concert Hall was not at first a public house, but was 
built for, and mostly used as, a place for giving musical 
entertainments, balls, parties, etc., though refreshments 
were probably served in it by the lessee. A "concert of 
musick " was advertised to be given there as early as 1755. 
(See Landmarks of Boston.) Thomas Turner had a danc- 
ing and fencing academy there in 1776. As has been 
mentioned, James Vila took charge of Concert Hall in 
1789. The old hall, which formed the second story, was 
high enough to be divided into two stories when the 
building was altered by later owners. It was of brick, 
and had two ornamental scrolls on the front, which were 
removed when the alterations were made. 

Great Britain Coffee-House, Ann Street, 1715. The 
house of Mr. Daniel Stevens, Ann Street, near the draw- 
bridge. There was another house of the same name in 
Queen (Court) Street, near the Exchange, in 1713, where 
"superfine bohea, and green tea, chocolate, coffee-powder, 
etc.," were advertised. 

George, or St. George, Tavern, on the Neck, near 
Roxbury line. (See Landmarks of Boston.) Noted as 
early as 1721. Simon Rogers kept it 1730-34. In 1769 
Edward Bardin took it and changed the name to the 
King's Arms. Thomas Brackett was landlord in 1770. 



64 APPENDIX. 

Samuel Mears, later. During the siege of 1775 the tavern 
was burnt by the British, as it covered our advanced line. 
It was known at that time by its old name of the George. 

Golden Ball. Loring's Tavern, Merchants' Row, corner 
of Corn Court, 1777. Kept by Mrs. Loring in 1789. 

General Wolfe, Town Dock, north side of Faneuil 
Hall, 1768. Elizabeth Coleman offers for sale utensils of 
Brew-House, etc., 1773. 

Green Dragon, also FreemasorCs Arms. By Bichard 
Pullin, 1712 ; by Mr. Pattoun, 1715 ; Joseph Kilder, 1734, 
who came from the Tliree Cranes, Charlestown. John 
Cary was licensed to keep it in 1769 ; Benjamin Burdick, 
1771, when it became the place of meeting of the Revolu- 
tionary Club. St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons bought 
the building before the Revolution, and continued to own 
it for more than a century. See p. 46. 

Hancock House, Corn Court ; sign has Governor Han- 
cock's portrait, — a wretched daub ; said to have been the 
house in which Louis Philippe lodged during his short stay 
in Boston. 

Hat and Helmet, by Daniel Jones ; less than a quarter 
of a mile south of the Town-House. 

Indian Queen, Blue Bell, and stood on the site 

of the Parker Block, Washington Street, formerly Marl- 
borough Street. Nathaniel Bishop kept it in 1673. After 
stages begun running into the country, this house, then 
kept by Zadock Pomeroy, was a regular starting-place for 
the Concord, Groton, and Leominster stages. It was suc- 
ceeded by the Washington Coffee-HouseJ The Indian 
Queen, in Bromfield Street, was another noted stage-house, 
though not of so early date. Isaac Trask, Nabby, his widow, 
Simeon Boyden, and Preston Shepard kept it. The Brom- 
field House succeeded it, on the Methodist Book Concern 
site. 



Daniel yones of EoftoTiy 

Hereby informs his Cuftomers and others that be has 

Opened a TAVERN in "^N^bury -Street, 

^t the Sign of the HAT aiid HELMET, which is lefs 
than a Quarter of a Mile South of Lhe Towa-Houfe": 
Where Gcntlelnen Travellers .and others will be kind- 
ly ei;jertained,- and good Care taken' of their Horfes. 

^ He-hath Accommodation for private, and Fire- 
Clubs, and will engage to furniih with good Uqaors 
and Attendance ; Coffee to be had when called for, kz. 

The Houfe to i>c fupplied with the News -Papers for 
the Amufement of his Cuflomers. 

N. B. Knapp'd and plain Bever and Beveret Hats, 
in the newell Tafle, made and fold by fa id JONES. 

BOSTON NEWS-LETTER, FEB. 15, 1770| 

■STAGE6. 

•fHE pnbhc are informed, that the. Of- 
fice of the New-Vork Mail, aniOid T/u:e Stagea, it re- 
eved from Sute-ftreet, to Naior K.i n g's tavern near'the 
Market, which ihey will le:ve at S o'clock. A, M.-every 
daj, ('•un-'ayj cxctf ,ed). Alio. Allwny St'ge Office is kept 
at Hrt fame pUc«/ The^Stige w 11 leave U every Monday 
and Thu fid ay^at S o'clock, A ^M. 

Tnc apartn^a: in State-Ureet, lair! y_jDccupicd for the 
•jboVt^u po'e, s to be Jet. Apply toM jor Kikc. 

Ue^erobet li *- 

COLUMBIAN CENTINEL. DEC. 11, 1799 



Wew-'York and Providence Mail 

STAGES, 

LEAVE Major Hatches, Royal Ex- 
change Cotfce flcufei i.i State- street, every nioruing'. 
»( 8 o'clock, arrive ai Provid'fr.cc ^\ 6 ihefame (isy ; leuvc 
rroviderce at 4 o'clock, fcr N^,Jv-York, Tuddivs, l>.urf« 
dajs ai:d Situruayi. Sta^i B^'>k krpt, ac the bar for the er- 
U^^cce ofthtOBmei. Expr^fiti io-.wa'ied lo any pait vf ma 
COntinenl<al the (Tsorte^tnouce, on rcfoTable terms ; horrrt. 
kept {^«dy for that par pofe only".- A»l ■'ivors griteiully ac- 
KnOA-ltdged-W the f uijlic'»rrv-.il hiHrbie fer-.-^U, 

Jan. X. STEPHEH FULLER,, jun. 

COLUMBIAN CENTINEL. JAN. 1, 1800 



BOSTON TAVERNS TO THE YEAR 1800. 



65 




JULIEN HOUSE. 

Julien's Restorator, corner of Congress and Milk 
streets. One of the most ancient buildings in Boston, when 
taken down in 1824, it having escaped the great fire of 
1759. It stood in a grass-plot, fenced in from the street. 
It was a private dwelling until 1794. Then Jean Baptiste 
Julien opened in it the first public eating-house to be estab- 
lished in Boston, with the distinctive title of "Eestora- 
tor," — a crude attempt to turn the French word restaurant 
into English. Before this time such places had always 
been called cook-shops. Julien was a Frenchman, who, 
like many of his countrymen, took refuge in America 
during the Eeign of Terror. His soups soon became 
famous among the gourmands of the town, while the 
novelty of his cuisine attracted custom. He was famil- 
iarly nicknamed the "Prince of Soups." At Julien's 



66 APPENDIX. 

death, in 1805, his widow succeeded him in the business^ 
she carrying it on successfully for ten years. The fol- 
lowing lines were addressed to her successor, Frederick 
Kouillard : 

JULIEN'S RESTORATOR. 

I knew by the glow that so rosily shone 

Upon Frederick's cheeks, that he lived on good cheer; 
And I » said, "If there's steaks to be had in the town. 

The man who loves venison should look for them here.'' 

'Twas two ; and the dinners were smoking around, 
The cits hastened home at the savory smell. 

And so still was the street that I heard not a sound 
But the barkeeper ringing the Coffee-House bell. 

" And here in the cosy Old Club" i I exclaimed, 

"With a steak that was tender, and Frederick's best wine, 

While under my platter a spirit-blaze flamed, 

How long could I sit, and how well could I dine 1 

"By the side of my venison a tumbler of beer 

Or a bottle of sherry how pleasant to see, 
And to know that I dined on the best of the deer, 

That never was dearer to any than me!" 

King's Head, by Scarlet's Wharf (northwest corner 
Fleet and North streets) ; burnt 1691, and rebuilt. Fleet 
Street was formerly Scarlet's Wharf Lane. Kept by 
James Davenport, 1755, and probably, also, by his widow. 
"A maiden dwarf, fifty -two years old," and only twenty- 
two inches high, was "to be seen at Widow Bignall's, 
next door to the King's Head, in August, 1771. The 
old King^s Head, in Chancery Lane, London, was the ren- 

1 The name of a room at Julian's. 



BOSTON TAVERNS TO THE YEAR 1800. 67 

dezvous of Titus Gates' party. Cowley the poet was born 
in it. 

Lamb. The sign is mentioned as early as 1746. Col- 
onel Doty kept it in 1760. The first stage-coach to Provi- 
dence put up at this house. The Adams House is on the 
same site, named for Laban Adams, who had kept the 
Lamb. 

Lion, formerly Grand Turk. In Newbury, now Wash- 
ington, Street. (See Landmarks of Boston.) Kept by Israel 
Hatch in 1789. 

Light-House and Anchor, at the North End, in 1763. 
Kobert Whatley then kept it. A Light-house tavern is 
noted in King Street, opposite the Town-House, 1718. 

Orange Tree, head of Hanover Street, 1708. Jonathan 
Wardwell kept it in 1712; Mrs. Wardwell in 1724; still 
a tavern in 1785. Wardwell set up here the first hackney- 
coach stand in Boston. 

Philadelphia, or North End Coffee-House, opposite 
the head of Hancock's Wharf. Kept by David Porter, 
father of the old Commodore and grandfather of the 
present Admiral. "Lodges, clubs, societies, etc., may be 
provided with dinners and suppers, — small and retired 
rooms for small company, — oyster suppers in the nicest 
manner." Formerly kept by Bennet. Occupied, 1789, by 
Eobert Wyre, distiller. 

Punch Bowl, Dock Square, kept by Mrs. Baker, 1789. 

Queen's Head. In 1732 Joshua Pierce, innholder, is 
allowed to remove his license from the sign of the Log- 
wood Tree, in Lynn Street, to the Queen^s Head, near 
Scarlet's Wharf, where Anthony Young last dwelt. 

Roebuck, north side of Town Dock (North Market 
Street). A house of bad repute, in which Henry Phillips 
killed Gaspard Dennegri, and was hanged for it in 1817. 
Roebuck passage, the alley-way through to Ann Street, 



68 APPENDIX. 

took its name from the tavern. It is now included in the 
extension northward of Merchants' Row. 

Rose and Crown, near the fortification at Boston Neck. 
To be let January 25, 1728 : " enquire of Gillam Phillips." 
This may be the house represented on Bonner's map of 
1722. 

Red Lion, North Street, corner of Richmond. Noticed 
as early as 1654 and as late as 1766. John Buchanan, 
baker, kept near it in 1712. 

Royal Exchange, State Street, corner Exchange. An 
antique two-story brick building. Noticed under this name, 
1711, then kept by Benjamin Johns ; in 1727, and also, in 
1747, by Luke Vardy. Stone kept it in 1768. Mrs. Mary 
Clapham boarded many British officers, and had several 
pretty daughters, one of whom eloped with an officer. The 
site of the Boston Massacre has been marked by a bronze 
tablet placed on the wall of the Merchants' Bank, opposite 
a wheel-line arrangement of the paving, denoting where 
the first blood of the Revolution was shed. It was the 
custom to exhibit transparencies on every anniversary of 
the Massacre from the front of this house. The first stage- 
coach ever run on the road from Boston to New York was 
started September 7, 1772, by Nicholas Brown, from this 
house, "to go once in every fourteen days." Israel Hatch 
kept it in 1800, as a regular stopping-place for the Provi- 
dence stages, of which he was proprietor ; but upon the 
completion of the turnpike he removed to Attleborough. 

Salutation, North Street, corner Salutation. See p. 45. 
Noticed in 1708 ; Samuel Green kept it in 1731 ; William 
Campbell, who died suddenly in a fit, January 18, 1773. 

Seven Stars, in Summer Street, gave the name of 
Seven Star Lane to that street. Said to have stood on part 
of the old Trinity Church lot. "Near the Haymarket" 
1771. then kept by Jonathan Patten. 




THE SUN TAVERN (Dock Square) 



BOSTON TAVERNS TO THE YEAR 1800. 69 

Shakespeare, Water Street, second house below Devon- 
shire ; kept by Mrs. Baker. 

Ship, corner Clark and North streets; kept by John 
Vyall, 1666-67; frequently called Noah's Ark. 

Ship in Distress, vicinity of North Square. 

Star, in Hanover Street, corner Link Alley, 1704. Link 
Alley was the name given to that part of Union Street 
west of Hanover. Stephen North kept it in 1712 - 14. It 
belonged to Lieutenant-Governor Stoughton. 

State's Arms, also King's Arms. Colonel Henry 
Shrimpton bequeathed it to his daughter Sarah, 1666. 
Hugh Gunnison sold it to Shrimpton in 1651, the tavern 
being then the King's Arms. 

Sun. This seems to have been a favorite emblem, as 
there were several houses of the name. The Sun in Bat- 
tery march Street was the residence of Benjamin Hallowell, 
a loyalist, before it became a tavern. The estate was con- 
fiscated. General Henry Dearborn occupied it at one time. 
The sign bore a gilded sun, with rays, with this inscrip- 
tion: 

"The best Ale and Porter 
Under the Sun." 

Upon the conversion of the inn into a store the sign of 
the sun was transferred to a house in Moon Street. The 
Sun in Dock Square, corner of Corn Court, was earlier, 
going back to 1724, kept by Samuel Mears, who was 
"lately deceased" in 1727. It was finally turned into a 
grocery store, kept first by George Murdock, and then by 
his successor, Wellington. A third house of this name 
was in Cornhill (Washington Street), in 1755. Captain 
James Day kept it. There was still another Sun, near 
Boston Stone, kept by Joseph Jackson in 1785. 



70 



APPENDIX, 



Swan, in Fish, now North Street, " by Scarlett's Wharf," 
1708. There was another at the South End, " nearly oppo- 
site Arnold Welles'," in 1784. 

Three Horse-Shoes, "in the street leading up to the 
Common," probably Tremont Street. Kept by Mrs. Glover, 
who died about 1744. William Clears kept it in 1775. 

White Horse, a few rods south of the Lamb. It had 
a white horse painted on the signboard. Kept by Joseph 
Morton, 1760, who was still landlord in 1772. Israel 
Hatch, the ubiquitous, took it in 1787, on his arrival from 
Attleborough. His announcement is unique. (See Land- 
marks of Boston, pp. 392, 393.) 




t JoUey Allen, * 

^ AdvertJfes all his good old Priends, ^ 
^ Cuftomers and others^ ^ 

Afc> That he has again opened Shop, oppofite to the ^ 
^ ThreeDoves ia.Marlborough-Street, Boftou : ^ 
^ And has for Sale, attheloweft Prices, thefol- ^ 
^ lowing Articles} ^ 

^Mufco^adoSugars of various Sorcs|^ 

^ and Prices, fingle, middle and double refined ^ 
v|^ Engli(h Loaf Sugrars, lately imported, Pepper, ^ 
^ Bohe'a Tea, Coffee, Spices of all Sorts, Indigo, ^ 
^ Raifins, Currants, Starch, Ginger, Copperas?, ^ 
^ Allum, Pipes of all Sorts, beft Durham Flour ^ 
^ of Mult.nrd, and moft other Kinds of Groceries ^ 
^ too many to enumerate, which he will fell from ^ 
>vr/. the largcft to the fmal'lelt Quantities. —Likewife ^ 
^ a very large and compleat AlTortment of Liver- .^ 
^ pool and Staffjrdfliire Ware, w'.ich he will ^ 
^ engage to fell by the Crate, or fingle Piece, as ^ 
^ low as at any Store in Town. — Playing Cards, ^ 
j^ Wool Cards, Scive Bottoms, a few Pieces of ;j^ 
^ Oznabrigsand Tickfenburgs,N^.4and N°.ia. ^ 
^ Pins, afewPieces of Soofes, Damafks, Sterrets, vjy 
.^ Loretto's, Burd<tts, Brunfwlcks, Mozeens, ^ 
^ for Summer Waiftcoats, &c. Sec. &c. ^ 

^ Alfo, at faid AlJen's may be had, genteel ^ 
^ Boarding and Lodging for fix or eight Perfons ^ 
^ iffliould be wanted,^fora longer or (horterSeafon, ^ 
^^ likewifegood Stabling for ten Horfes and Car- ^ 
^ riagesw ^ ^ 

^ N. B. .If any Perfon inclines to hire the above ^ 
•^ Stable, and Place for Carriages, they may have ^ 
^ a Leafe of the fame for 19 Years or lefs Time ^ 
^ from the faid Allen, and if ;iranted, on the fame ^ 
^ Piemiles can ba fpared, Rnem for forty or fiity ^ 
'^ Horfes and Carriages : It is as' good aPlace for ^ 
^ Horfe and Chaife Letting as any in Bofton. ^ 

BOSTON NEWS-LETTER, MAY 27, 1773 



COLE'S INN 

THE BAKERS' ARMS 

THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN 

BY 

WALTER K. WATKINS 

AND 

THE HANCOCK TAVERN 

BY 

E. W. McGLENEN 




VI 



SAMTJEI. COLE'S INN. 

Samuel Cole came to Boston in the fleet with 
Governor Winthrop, and he with his wife Ann were 
the fortieth and forty -first on the list of original mem- 
bers of the First Church. He requested to become a 
freeman October 19, 1630, and was sworn May 18, 
1631. He was the ninth to sign the roll of the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1637 
and in the same year was disarmed for his religious 
views. In 1636 he contributed to the maintenance of 
a free school and in 1656 to the building of the town 
house. In 1652 he was one of those chosen to receive 
monies for Harvard College. In 1634 he opened the 
first ordinary, or inn. It was situated on Washington 
Street, nearly opposite the head of Water Street. 
Here, in 1636, Sir Henry Vane, the governor, enter- 
tained Miantonomo and two of Canonicus's sons, with 
other chiefs. While the four sachems dined at the 
Governor's house, which stood near the entrance to 
Pemberton Square, the chiefs, some twenty in all, 
dined at Cole's Inn. At this time a treaty of peace 
was concluded here between the English and the Nar- 
ragansetts. 

73 



74 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS, 

In 1637, in the month of June, there sailed into Bos- 
ton Harbor the ship Sector, from London, with the 
Rev. John Davenport and two London merchants, 
Theophilus Eaton and Edward Hopkins, his son-in-law, 
two future governors of Connecticut. On the same 
vessel was a young man, a ward of King Charles I., 
James, Lord Ley, a son of the Earl of Marlborough 
(who had just died). He was also to hold high posi- 
tions in the future and attain fame as a mathematician 
and navigator. 

The Earl of Marlborough, while in Boston, was at 
Cole^s Inn^ and while he was here was of sober carriage 
and observant of the country which he came to view. 
He consorted frequently with Sir Henry Vane, visiting 
with him Maverick, at Noddle's Island, and returning 
to England with Vane in August, 1637. 

His estate in England was a small one in Teffont 
Evias, or Ewyas, Wilts, near Hinton Station, and in 
the church there may still be seen the tombs of the 
Leys. He also had a reversion to lands in Heywood, 
Wilts. 

In 1649 he compounded with Parliament for his 
lands and giving bond was allowed to depart from 
England to the plantations in America. 

On the restoration of Charles II. in 1661, the Earl 
returned to England and in the next year was assisted 
by the King to fit out an expedition to the West Indies. 
In 1665 he commanded " that huge ship," the Old James, 
and in the great victorious sea fight of June 3 with the 
Dutch was slain, with Rear Admiral Sansum, Lords 
Portland, Muskerry, and others. 



COLE'S INN, 



75 



He died without issue and the title went to his uncle, 
in whom the title became extinct, to be revived later in 
the more celebrated Duke, of the Churchill family. 

It was shortly after the Earl's departure that Cole 
was disarmed for his sympathy for his neighbor on the 
south, Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, and he was also fined at 
the same time for disorders at his house. In the fol- 
lowing spring he was given permission to sell his house, 
to which he had just built an addition, and he disposed 
of it to Capt. Robert Sedgwick in February, 1638. 

Cole then removed to a house erroneously noted by 
some as the first inn, situated next his son-in-law, Ed- 
mund Grosse, near the shore on North Street. This 
he sold in 1645 to George Halsall and bought other 
land of Valentine Hill. 




THE BAKERS' ARMS 



VII. 

THE BAKERS' ARMS. 

Predecessor of the Green Dragon. 

Thomas Hawkins, biscuit baker, and a brother of 
James Hawkins, bricklayer, was born in England in 
1608. He was a proprietor in Boston in 1636; his wife 
Hannah was admitted to the church there in 1641, and 
that year his son Abraham, born in 1637, was baptized. 
His home lot was on the west side of Washington 
Street, the second north of Court Street. He also had 
one quarter of an acre near the Mill Cove, and a house 
bought in 1645 from John Trotman. 

In 1662 James Johnson, glover, sold three quarters 
of an acre of marsh and upland, bounded on the north 
and east by the Mill Cove, to Hawkins. The latter 
was living by the Mill Cove by this time in a house 
built in 1649, and beside keeping his bake house he 
kept a cook shop, and also entertained with refresh- 
ments his customers by serving beer. A mortgage of 
the property, in 1663, to Simon Lynde discloses, besides 
the dwelling and bake house, a stable, brew house, out- 
houses, and three garden plots on the upland. In 1667 
Hawkins was furnished ^200 by the Rev. Thomas 
Thacher to cancel this mortgage. The property ex- 
tended from the Mill Pond to Hanover Street, and was 

76 



THE bakers' arms. 77 

bounded north by Union Street, and was 280 feet by 
104 feet — about two thirds of an acre in area. 

Thacher had married Margaret, widow of Jacob 
Sheafe and daughter of Henry Webb, a wealthy mer- 
chant. Mrs. Sheafe had a daughter, Mehitabel, who 
married her cousin, Sampson Sheafe. Mr. Thacher 
assigned the mortgage to Sampson Sheafe, and on 
31 October, 1670, the time of payment having expired, 
Sheafe obtained judgment for possession of the property, 
which had become known as the ^' Bakers' Arms," 
which Hawkins had kept since 1665 as a house of 
entertainment. 

Hawkins had married a second wife, and in January, 
1671, Rebecca Hawkins deeded her rights in the prop- 
erty to Sheafe. 15 May, 1672, Hawkins petitioned the 
General Court, and complained that he had been turned 
out of doors and his household property seized by 
Sheafe; that his houses and land were worth X800, 
and that Sheafe had only advanced £ 175. He asked 
for an appraisement, and the prayer of the petitioner 
was allowed. 

In 1673 Hawkins sued Sheafe in the County Court 
for selling some brewing utensils, a pump, sign, ladder, 
cooler and mash fat (wooden vessel containing eight 
bushels) taken from the brew house. He also objected 
to items in Sheafe's account against him, such as 
" Goodman Drury's shingling the house and Goodman 
Cooper whitening it." At this time we find two dwell- 
ing houses on the lot. The easterly house Sheafe sold 
in May, 1673, to John Howlet, and this became known 
as the Star Tavern. 



78 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

On 10 April, 1673, Sampson Sheaf e sold to William 
Stoughton the west portion of the Hawkins property. 

In 1678 Mrs. Hawkins petitioned the General Court 
in the matter, and also the town to sell wine and strong 
water, on account of the weak condition of her husband 
and his necessity. 11 June, 1680, the General Court 
allowed her eleven pounds in clear of all claims and in- 
cumbrances. Hawkins having died, she had married, 
4 June, 1680, John Stebbins, a baker. Stebbins died 
4 December, 1681, aged 70, and the widow Rebecca 
Stebbins was licensed as an innkeeper in 1690. 

In 1699 the widow Stebbins, then 77 years old, testi- 
fied as to her husband Thomas Hawkins having the 
south-east corner or sea end of half a warehouse at the 
Draw Bridge foot, which he purchased from Joshua 
Scotto and which Hawkins sold in 1657 to Edward 
Tyng. That Hawkins had used it for the landing and 
housing of corn for his trade as a baker. That he 
had bought the sea end for the convenience of vessels 
to land. It is probable the portion sold to Stoughton 
had but a frontage of two hundred and four feet on 
Union Street. Sheafe had torn down part of the build- 
ing and made repairs, and had as tenant of the " Bakers' 
Arms " Nicholas Wilmot. Wilmot came to Boston 
about 1650. In 1674 he was allowed by the town to 
sell beer and give entertainment, and in 1682 he was 
licensed as an innholder. 

By his wife Mary he had Elizabeth, who married (1) 
Caleb Rawlins, an innkeeper, who died in 1693, and 
(2) Richard Newland ; Abigail, who married Abra- 
ham Adams, an innkeeper ; Hannah, who married 



THE BAKERS' ARMS. 79 

Nathaniel Adams of Charlestown, blockmaker ; Mary, 
who married John Alger ; and Ann, the youngest, who 
married Joseph Allen. There were also two sons, 
Samuel and John Wilmot. Nicholas Wilmot died in 
1684, and his widow in a very short time married Abra- 
ham Smith, to assist in carrying on the tavern. 

The tavern, even at this time, was of some size, and 
additions had perhaps been built by S tough ton. The 
rooms were designated by names, as in the taverns of 
Old England. In the chamber called the "Cross Keys" 
met the Scots Charitable Society, a benefit society for 
the residents of Scottish birth and sojourners from 
Scotland, two of the officers keeping each a key of the 
money box. The most noted of the chambers was that 
of the " Green Dragon," which at about this time gave 
the name of " Green Dragon " to the tavern. There 
were also the " Anchor," the " Castle," the " Sun," and 
the " Rose " chambers, which were also the names of 
other taverns in the town at that period. One cold 
December night in 1690, just after midnight, a fire 
occurred in the " Green Dragon," and it was burnt to 
the ground and very little of its contents saved. Snow 
on the houses in the vicinity was the means of prevent- 
ing the spread of the flames, with the fact that there 
was no wind at the time. Within a year or two the 
tavern was rebuilt by Stoughton and again occupied 
by Abraham Smith, who died in 1696, leaving an estate 
of £ 273 : 19 : 5. His widow, Mary Smith, died shortly 
after her husband. In her will she freed her negro 
women Sue and Maria, and the deeds of manumission 
are recorded in the Suffolk Deeds. 



VIII. 

THE GOLDEN BALL. TAVERN. 

In the manuscript collections of the Bostonian Soci- 
ety is a plan showing the earliest owners of the land 
bordering on the Corn Market. On the site now the 
south corner of Faneuil Hall Square and Merchants' 
Row is noted the possession of Edward Tyng. 
Another manuscript of the Society, equally unique, 
is an apprentice indenture of Robert Orchard in 1662. 
In the account of Orchard, printed in the Publications 
of the Society^ Vol. IV, is given the continued history 
of Tyng's land after it came into the possession of 
Theodore Atkinson. In the history of the sign of the 
Golden Ball Tavern we continue the story of the same 
plot of land. 

Originally owned by Edward Tyng, and later by 
Theodore Atkinson, and then by the purchase of the 
property by Henry Deering, who married the widow of 
Atkinson's son Theodore. All this was told in the 
Orchard article. 

It was about 1700 that Henry Deering erected on 
his land on the north side of a passage leading from 
Merchants' Row, on its west side, a building which was 
soon occupied as a tavern. Samuel Tyley, who had 
kept the Star in 1699, the Green Dragon in 1701, and 

80 




SIGN OF THE BUNCH OF GRAPES 
Now in the Masonic Temple 




SIGN OF THE GOLDEN BALL 
Now in the possession of the Bostonian Society 



THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN, 81 

later the Salutation at the North End, left this last 
tavern in 1711 to take Mr. Deering's house in Mer- 
chants' Row, the G-olden Ball. 

Henry Deering died in 1717, and was buried with 
his wife on the same day. He had been a man greatly 
interested in public affairs. In 1707 he had proposed 
the erection of a building for the custody of the town's 
records ; at the same time he proposed a wharf at the 
foot of the street, now State Street, then extending 
only as far as Merchants' Row. This was soon built 
as "Boston Pier" or "Long Wharf." He also pre- 
sented a memorial for the " Preventing Disolation by 
Fire " in the town. 

In the division of Deering's estate in 1720 the dwell- 
ing house in the occupation of Samuel Tyley, known 
by the name of the Golden Ball^ with privilege in the 
passage on the south and in the well, was given his 
daughter Mary, the wife of William Wilson. Mrs. Wil- 
son, in her will drawn up in 1729, then a widow, 
devised the house to her namesake and niece, Mary, 
daughter of her brother, Capt. Henry Deering. At 
the time of Mrs. Wilson's death in 1753 her niece was 
the wife of John Gooch, whom she married in 1736. 
Samuel Tyley died in 1722, while still the landlord of 
the Golden Ball. 

The next landlord of whom we have knowledge was 
William Patten, who had taken the Green Dragon in 
1714. In 1733 he was host at the Golden Ball., 
where he stayed till 1736, when he took the inn on 
West Street, opposite the schoolhouse, and next to the 
estate later known as the Washington Gardens. 



82 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

He was succeeded by Humphrey Scarlett, who died 
January 4, 1739-40, aged forty -six, and is buried on 
Copp's Hill with his first wife Mehitable (Pierce) Scar- 
lett. He married as a second wife Mary Wentworth. 
By the first wife he had a daughter Mary (b. 1719), who 
married Jedediah Lincoln, Jr., and by the second wife 
a son named Humphrey. When the son was a year 
old, in 1735, two negro servants of Scarlett, by name 
Yaw and Caesar, were indicted for attempting to poison 
the family one morning at breakfast, by putting rats- 
bane or arsenic in the chocolate. Four months after 
Scarlett's death his widow married William Ireland. 

Richard Gridley, born in Boston in 1710, was ap- 
prenticed to Theodore Atkinson, merchant, and later 
became a ganger. In 1735 he kept a tavern on Com- 
mon Street, now Tremont Street. Here by order of 
the General Court he entertained four Indians, chiefs 
of the Pigwacket tribe, at an expense of X40 "for 
drinks, tobacco, victuals, and dressing." Five pounds 
of this was for extra trouble. The Committee thought 
the charges extravagant and cut him down to £33 for 
their entertainment from June 28 to July 9. In 1738 
he took the Golden Ball. His fame in later years, at 
Louisburg and elsewhere, as an engineer and artillery 
officer is well known. 

Gridley was followed as landlord in 1740 by Increase 
Blake. He was born in Dorchester in 1699 and mar- 
ried Anne, daughter of Edward and Susanna (Harri- 
son) Gray. Her parents are noted in Boston history 
for their ownership of the rope-walks at Fort Hill. 
Blake, a tinplate worker, held the office of sealer of 



THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN. 88 

weights and measures, and in 1737 leased a shop of the 
town at the head of the Town Dock. He later lived 
near Battery March, and was burned out in the fire of 
1760. 

In 1715 there was born in Salem John Marston. He 
married in 1740 Hannah Welland, and by her had 
three daughters. In 1745, at the first siege of Louis- 
burg, he was a first lieutenant in the fifth company, 
commanded by Capt. Charles King, in Colonel Jere- 
miah Moulton's regiment. His wife having died, he 
married her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth (Welland) Blake. 
His second wife died, and he married in 1755 Elizabeth 
Greenwood. He was landlord at the G-olden Ball as 
early as 1757. In 1760 he purchased a house on the 
southwest corner of Hanover and Cross streets, and 
later other property on Copp's Hill. He is said to 
have been a member of the "Boston Tea Party." 
During the Revolution he was known as " Captain " 
Marston, and attended to military matters in Boston, 
supplying muskets to the townspeople as a committee- 
man of the town. He continued to keep a house of 
entertainment and went to the Bunch of G-rapes in 
1775. There he was cautioned in 1778 for allowing 
gaming in his house, such as playing backgammon. He 
died in August, 1786, while keeping the Bunch of 
G-rapes on King, now State Street, and there he was 
succeeded by his widow in retailing liquors. He left 
an estate valued at X2000. 

Benjamin Loring, born in Hingham in 1736, married 
Sarah Smith in Boston in 1771. During the Revolu- 
tion he kept the G-olden Ball, He died in the spring of 



84 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

1782, and his widow succeeded him and kept the tavern 
till her death in 1790. 

From the inventory of her estate it appears that 
the house consisted, on the ground floor, of a large 
front room and small front room, the bar and kit- 
chen, and closets in the entry. A front and a back 
chamber, front upper chamber, and another upper 
chamber and garret completed the list of rooms. On 
the shelves of the bar rested large and small china 
bowls for punch, decanters for wine, tumblers, wine 
glasses, and case bottles. There also was found a small 
sieve and lemon squeezer, with a Bible, Psalm, and 
Prayer Books. On the wall of the front chamber 
hung an old Highland sword. 

The cash on hand at the widow's death consisted of 
4 English shillings, 20 New England shillings, 10 Eng- 
lish sixpences, a French crown, a piece of Spanish 
money, half a guinea, and bank notes to the value of 
.£4: 10. In one of the chambers was $483 Continental 
paper money, of no appraised value. 

Benjamin Loring, at his death, left his share of one 
half a house in Hingham to be improved for his wife 
during her life, then to his sisters, Abigail and Eliza- 
beth, and ultimately to go to Benjamin, the son of his 
brother Joseph Loring of Hingham. The younger 
Benjamin became a citizen of Boston, a captain of the 
" Ancients," and a colonel in the militia. He started 
in business as a bookbinder and later was a stationer 
and a manufacturer of blank books, leaving quite a 
fortune at his death in 1859. His portrait is displayed 
in the Armory of the Artillery Company. A portrait 



THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN, 85 

of the elder Loring (the landlord of the Golden Ball) 
shows him with a comely face and wearing a tie-wig. 

The Columbian Centmel of December 3, 1794, had the 
following advertisement : 

For sale, if applied for immediately, The Noted Tavern in the 
Street leading from the Market to State street known by the 
name of the Golden Ball. It has been improved as a tavern for a 
number of years, and is an excellent stand for a store. Inquire of 
Ebenezer Storer, in Sudbury Street. 

Mr. Storer acted as the agent of Mary, wife of the 
Rev. Benjamin Gerrish Gray, of Windsor, N. S., who 
was the heiress of Mary Gooch, who resided at Marsh- 
field, Mass., at the time of her death. Mr. Gray was a 
son of Joseph Gray of Boston and Halifax, N. S., a 
loyalist. Mary, the heiress, was a daughter of Nathaniel 
Ray Thomas, a loyalist of Marshfield, who had married 
Sally Deering, a sister of Mary Gooch of Marshfield. 

The property was sold by Mrs. Gray, June 9, 1795, 
to James Tisdale, a merchant, who bought also adjoin- 
ing lots. It was at this time that the Grolden Ball 
disappeared from Merchants' Row, where it had hung 
as a landmark for about a century. Tisdale soon sold 
his lots to Joseph Blake, a merchant, who erected ware- 
houses on the site. 

There was still an attraction in the G-olden Ball^ 
however, and in 1799 we find it swinging in Wing's 
Lane, now Elm Street, for Nathan Winship. He was 
the son of Jonathan, and born in Cambridge. In 1790 
he was living in Roxbury. He died in 1818, leaving a 
daughter Lucy. He had parted with the Golden Ball 
long before his death. 



86 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

In 1805 there was erected in South Boston a build- 
ing by one Garrett Murphy. It stood on Fourth 
Street, between Dorchester Avenue and A Street, and 
here he displayed the Grolden Ball for five years, as his 
hotel sign. Just a century ago, in 1810, for want of 
patronage, it became a private residence. About 1840 
the hotel was reopened as the South Boston Hotel. 

From South Boston the Golden Ball rolled back to 
Elm Street, and in 1811 hung at the entrance of 
Joseph Bradley's Tavern. From this Q-olden Ball 
started the stages for Quebec on Mondays at four in 
the morning. They arrived at Concord, N. H., at seven 
in the evening. Leaving there at four Tuesday morn- 
ing, they reached Hanover, N.H., at two in the after- 
noon, and continuing on arrived at Haverhill, N. H., 
near Woodsville, at nine Wednesday evening. 

The next appearance of the G-olden Ball was on Con- 
gress Street, where at No. 13 was the new tavern of 
Thomas Murphy in 1816. 

Henry Cabot, born 1812, was a painter, and first be- 
gan business at 2 ScoUay's Building in 1833. He 
removed to Blackstone Street in 1835, where he was 
located at various numbers till 1858, when he went to 
North Street. He resided in Chelsea from 1846 till 
his death in 1875. The occupation of this owner of 
the G-olden Ball was that of an ornamental sign and 
standard painter. His choice of a sign was not accord- 
ing to the traditions of his trade, and did not conform 
with the painters' arms of the London Guild Company, 
which were placed on the building in Hanover Street 
by an earlier member of that craft. It was no worse 



THE GOLDEN BALL TAVERN. 87 

choice, however, than a sign which some of us may 
recall as swinging on Washington Street, near Dock 
Square, fifty years ago, " The Sign of the Dying War- 
rior, N. M. Phillips, Sign Painter." 

The Grolden Ball was the sign anciently hung out in 
London by the silk mercers, and was used by them to 
the end of the eighteenth century. Mr. Cabot's choice 
of a location to start his business life was more appro- 
priate than his sign, as in the block of shops, owned by 
the town, connecting on the west side of the Scollay's 
Building, had been the paint shop of Samuel, brother 
of Christopher Gore. 



COFFEE URN USED IN THE GREEN 
DRAGON. 

This interesting relic was given to the Bostonian 
Society during 1915. It is a coffee urn of Sheffield 
ware, formerly in the Cfreen Dragon Tavern, which 
stood on Union Street from 1697 to 1832, and was a 
famous meeting place of the Patriots of the Revolution. 
It is globular in form and rests on a base, and inside is 
still to be seen the cylindrical piece of iron which, 
when heated, kept the delectable liquid contents of the 
urn hot until imbibed by the frequenters of the tavern. 
The Green Dragon Tavern site, now occupied by a 
business structure, is owned by the St. Andrew's Lodge 
of Free Masons of Boston, and at a recent gathering of 
the Lodge on St. Andrew's Day the urn was exhibited 
to the assembled brethren. 

When the contents of the tavern were sold, the urn 
was bought by Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington, who then 
kept a famous boarding house on Pearl Street, in a 
building owned by the Quincy family. In 1847 the 
house was razed and replaced by the Quincy Block, 
and Mrs. Harrington removed to High Street and 
from there to Chauncey Place. Some of the prominent 
men of Boston boarded with her for many years. At 
her death the urn was given to her daughter, Mrs. 
John R. Bradford, and it has now been presented to 
the Society by Miss Phebe C. Bradford of Boston, 
granddaughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington. 




SooJjc. /oo /ee£ to an, incT-i^. 

CornpiJjs.dL by 0e.orqe. LojTxb, 



IX. 

THE HANCOCK TAVERN. 

" As an old landmark the Hancock Tavern is a failure. 
There was not an old window in the house ; the nails 
were Bridgewater nails, the timbers were mill-sawed, 
and the front of it was of face brick, which were not 
made even in 1800. At the time of the Revolution it 
was merely a four-room dwelling house of twelve win- 
dows, and the first license ever given to it as an inn 
was in 1790. The building recently demolished was 
erected during the years 1807 to 1812. 

With the above words, Edward W. McGlenen, city 
registrar, effectually settled the question June 3, 1903, at 
a meeting of the New England Historic Genealogical 
Society, as to the widely credited report that it was in 
the Hancock Tavern^ which for many years stood on 
Corn Court, the members of the Boston Tea Party 
met, disguised themselves as Indians, and from there 
journeyed to Griffin's Wharf, where they threw over- 
board the obnoxious tea. 

It was a special meeting of the society called to hear 
the report of a special committee appointed "to con- 
sider the question of the circumstances attending the 
formation and execution of the plans for what is known 
as the Boston Tea Party. This committee was made 



90 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

up of men who for years had been students of that 
very subject, and the result of their researches is inter- 
esting and conclusive. William C. Bates was chair- 
man, and his associates were Edward W. McGlenen, 
the Rev. Anson Titus, William T. Eustis, and Herbert 
G. Briggs. The members of the society were present 
in large numbers, and Marshall P. Wilder Hall was 
well filled. 

William C. Bates, as chairman of the special com- 
mittee, spoke of the endeavors of himself and colleagues 
to avoid ground covered by historians. He said that 
places of rendezvous for the " Mohawks " are to some 
extent known, for over half a dozen of the members 
have left to their descendants the story of where they 
met and costumed themselves. The four Bradlees met 
at their sister's house, corner of HoUis and Tremont 
streets ; Joseph Brewer and others at the foot of 
Summer Street ; John Crane in a carpenter shop on 
Tremont Street opposite Hollis ; Joseph Shedd and a 
small party in his house on Milk Street, where the 
Equitable Building now stands ; and James Swan in his 
boarding house on Hanover Street. In the testimony 
of the descendants, down to 1850 at least, there was 
no mention of the Hancock Tavern. The place of ori- 
gin of the Tea Party and who first proposed it are 
matters of considerable discussion. Many of the party 
were members of St. Andrew's Lodge of Masons, which 
owned the Grreen Dragon Inn, and the lodge records 
state that the meeting held on the night of the Tea 
Party had to be adjourned for lack of attendance, 
"public matters being of greater importance." 




SHEFFIELD PLATE URN 
Used in the Green Dragon Tavern, now in possession of the Bostonian Society 



THE HANCOCK TAVERN. 91 

It is not surprising that so much secrecy has been 
maintained, because of the danger of lawsuits by the 
East Indian Company and others. The members of 
the St. Andrew's Lodge were all young, many under 
twenty, the majority under thirty. 

Mr. McGlenen's report as to his investigations was 
especially interesting, settling, as it did, three distinct 
questions which had been undecided for many years — 
the location of the inn of Samuel Cole, the location of 
his residence, and the much mooted point as to whether 
the '' Mohawks" met at the Hancock Tavern for the 
preparatory steps toward the Boston Tea Party. 

All three questions were based on a statement printed 
in the souvenir of the Hancock Tavern, reading as 
follows : 

On the south side of Faneuil Hall is a passageway through 
which one may pass into Merchants' row. It is Corn court, a 
name known to few of the present day, but in the days gone by 
as familiar as the Corn market, with which it was connected. In 
the center of this court stands the oldest tavern in New England. 
It was opened March 4, 1634, by Samuel Cole. It was surrounded 
by spacious grounds, which commanded a view of the harbor and its 
shipping, for at that time the tide covered the spot where Faneuil 
Hall now stands. It was a popular resort from the beginning, 
and was frequented by many foreigners of note. 

The seeming authority for these statements and 
others, connecting it with pre-revolutionary events, 
said Mr. McGlenen, appears in Rambles in Old Boston 
by the Rev. E. G. Porter, pages 67 and 68, evi- 
dently based on a newspaper article written by William 
Brazier Duggan, M.D., in the Quincy Patriot for August 



92 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

28, 1852, and to a novel entitled The Brigantine bj 
one Ingraham, referring to legendary lore. None of 
these statements can be confirmed. The confusion has 
been caused by the statement made many years ago 
and reprinted as a note in the Book of Possessions, 
Vol. II, Boston Town Records, that somewhere near the 
water front Samuel Cole kept an inn ; but Letchford's 
Note Booh, the Toivn Records, and the Suffolk Deeds 
prove to the contrary. 

Samuel Cole's Inn was kept by him from 1634 to 
1638, when he sold out by order of the Colony Court. 
He purchased a residence near the town dock seven 
years later. It adjoined the Hayicock Tavern lot, and 
was bounded on the west by the lot originally in the 
ownership of Isaac Gross, whose son Clement kept the 
Tliree Mariners, an ale house which stood west of 
Pierse's Alley (Change Avenue) and east of the Sun 
Tavern. 

It is impossible to connect the Hancock Tavern with 
any pre-Revolutionary event. It was a small house, as 
described in the Direct Tax of 1798, of two stories, of 
two rooms each, built of wood, with twelve windows, 
value 11200. It was first licensed in 1790, and the 
earliest reference found in print is in the advertise- 
ment for the sale of lemons by John Duggan, in the 
Columbian Centinel in 1794. 

As to Cole's Inn, from the records of the Massachu- 
setts Bay Colony Court, it appears that Samuel Cole 
kept the first inn or ordinary within the town of 
Boston. In 1638 the court gave him liberty to sell his 
house for an inn. This he did, disposing of it to 



THE HANCOCK TAVERN. 93 

Robert Sedgwick of Charlestown, as shown in Letch- 
ford's Note Book. The town records show that in 1638 
Edward Hutchinson, Samuel Cole, Robert Turner, 
Richard Hutchinson, William Parker, and Richard 
Brackett were ordered to make a cartway near Mr. 
Hutchinson's house, which definitely locates Samuel 
Cole on the old highway leading to Roxbury, i.e. 
Washington Street {Town Records^ Vol. II, Rec. Com. 
Report, p. 38). 

The Book of Possessions shows in the same report 
that Valentine Hill had one house and garden bounded 
with the street on the east, meeting house and Richard 
Truesdale on the north, Capt. Robert Sedgwick on the 
south, and the prison yard west. 

Major Robert Sedgwick's house and garden bounded 
with Thomas Clarke, Robert Turner and the street on 
the east, Mr. Hutchinson on the south, Valentine Hill 
on the north, and Henry Messinger west. 

Valentine Hill granted, March 20, 1645, to William 
Davies, his house and garden bounded on the south 
with the ordinary now in the possession of James Pen 
{Suffolk Deeds, Vol. I, p. 60). This presumably is 
Cole^s Inn, then in the possesssion of Robert Sedgwick, 
and occupied by James Pen. 

The question of Cole's residence was easily settled 
by Mr. McGlenen, when he read from deeds showing 
that in 1645 Valentine Hill sold to Samuel Cole a lot 
of land near the town dock. Samuel Cole died in 1666, 
and in his will left his house and lot to his daughter 
Elizabeth and son John. This property is on the 
corner- of Change Avenue and Faneuil Hall Square, 



94 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS, 

and is now occupied by W. W. Rawson as a seed 
store. 

The Hancock Tavern is a distinct piece of property. 
Mr. McGlenen read from deeds which proved that the 
land was first owned by John Kenerick of Boston, yeo- 
man, and was first sold to Robert Brecke of Dorchester, 
merchant, on January 8, 1652. It was again sold to 
Thomas Watkins of Boston, tobacco maker, in 1653 ; 
by him in 1679 to James Green of Boston, cooper ; by 
him to Samuel Green of Boston, cooper, in 1712 ; and 
by him willed to his sons and daughter in 1750. 

The eastern portion of the original lot (that situated 
east of the one on which the Hancock Tavern^ just de- 
molished, was located) was sold by Samuel Green's 
heirs to Thomas Handasyd Peck in 1759. The Han- 
cock Tavern lot itself was then sold to Thomas Brom- 
field, merchant, in February, 1760. The deed says : 
" A certain dwelling house, with the land whereon the 
same doth stand." Bromfield in 1763 sold it to Joseph 
Jackson of Boston, who owned it at the time of the 
Revolution, and disposed of it on August 19, 1779, to 
Morris Keith, a Boston trader. Morris Keith, or 
Keefe, died in April, 1783, aged 62, leaving a widow 
and two children, Thomas and Mary. The son died in 
1784, the widow in 1785, leaving the daughter Mary to 
inherit the property. The inventory describes Morris 
Keefe as a lemon dealer, and the house and land in 
Corn Court as worth c£260. 

Mary Keefe married John Duggan, May 24, 1789, 
and in 1790 John Duggan was granted a license to 
retail liquor at his house in Corn Court. This is the 



THE HANCOCK TAVERN, 95 

earliest record of a license being granted to the Han- 
cock Tavern^ so called. Mary Duggan deeded the 
property to her husband in January, 1795, a few weeks 
before her death. In 1796 John Duggan married Mary 
Hopkins. He died April 21, 1802, leaving three chil- 
dren—Michael, born 1797; William, born 1799, and 
John Adams, born 1802. Mary (Hopkins) Duggan 
then married William Brazier in 1803. He died ten 
years later. 

The record commissioners' reports, No. 22, page 290, 
show the following inventory for 1798 : 

John Duggan, owner and occupier ; wooden dwelling ; west 
on Corn Court ; south on Moses Gill ; north on James 
Tisdale. Land 1024 square feet ; house 448 square feet ; 
2 stories, 12 windows ; value $1200 

Duggan's advertisement in the Columbian Centinel of 
October 11, 1794, reads : 

Latest imported lemons — In excellent order, for sale, by John 
Duggan, at his house, at the sign of Gov. Hancock outside the 
market. 

His address in the Boston Directory for 1796 is : 
" John Duggan, lemon dealer. Corn court, S. side 
market." 

In 1795, Duggan, who is described as an innholder, 
and his wife deeded this property to Daniel English, 
who, on the same day, deeded it back to John, in order 
that he might have a clear title. 

" From these investigations," said Mr. McGlenen, " I 
think it is clear that as an old landmark the Hancock 
Tavern is a failure." 



96 OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. 

The Rev. Anson Titus then made his report of per- 
sonal investigations relating to the Tea Party itself. 
He said that the only sure thing is this — that some- 
thing happened in Boston on the evening of Decem- 
ber 16, 1773. Beyond this to make statements is 
dangerous. Details of the affair were not subject of 
public conversation, because of the danger of prosecu- 
tion and legal action. It was at the very edge of 
treason to the King. It is certain that there were a 
great crowd of visitors in Boston that night from the 
country towns who had been informed of what to expect 
and had come for a purpose. Secrecy was the word 
and obedience was the command. 

Mr. Titus quoted from the Boston papers of that 
time and from Gov. Hutchinson's letters, but declared 
that it was impossible to learn of the names of the 
actual members of the party. He said that the 
" Mohawks were men familiar with the vessels and 
the wharves. It is generally recognized that they 
were Masons." 

" In conclusion, as we began," he said, " in 1903, as 
in .1822, very little is known concerning the real par- 
ticipants of the Boston Tea Party. The lifelong silence 
on the part of those knowing most of the party is most 
commendable and patriotic. It was a hazardous under- 
taking, even treason, and long after American inde- 
pendence was gained, if proof which would have had 
the least weight in court had been found, there would 
have been claims for damages by the East India Com- 
pany or the Crown against our young republic, which 
would have been obliged to meet them. The affair was 



THE HANCOCK TAVERN. 97 

a turning point in the history of American liberty, 
and glad ought we all to be that there is no evidence 
existing connecting scarcely an individual, the town 
of Boston, or the province with the Boston Tea 
Party." 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

This list is taken from Miss Thwing's work on the 
Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston^ 
1630-1800^ in possession of the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society. There also may be found the author- 
ity for each statement and further details. It does not 
include many inns mentioned in advertisements in the 
papers of the eighteenth century, nor the names of 
many licensed innkeepers whose hostelry had no sign. 

The Colony records state that in 1682 persons annu- 
ally licensed in Boston to keep taverns and sell beer 
shall not exceed six wine taverns, ten innholders, and 
eight retailers for wine and strong liquors out of doors. 
In 1684, as this was not enough for the accommodation 
of the inhabitants, the county court licensed five or six 
more public houses. In 1687 all licenses for public 
houses to be granted only to those persons of good 
repute, and have convenient houses and at least two 
beds to entertain strangers and travellers. In Boston 
the approbation of the Treasurer must be secured. 
The regulations of inns are given in detail in the 
records. 



100 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Admiral Vernon, see Vernon's Head, 

American Coflfee-House, see British Coffee-House. 

Anchor, also called Blue Anchor, east side of Wash- 
ington Street, between State and Water streets (site of the 
Globe Building). In the Book of Possessions Richard 
Fairbanks (innkeeper) had house and garden here. In 1646 
he was licensed to keep a house of entertainment, and in 
1652 sold his estate to Robert Turner, who was licensed in 
1659, and his widow Penelope in 1666. His son John 
Turner inherited, and was licensed in 1667. In 1680 
George Monk on his marriage with Lucy, widow of Turner, 
succeeded. Monk married a second wife, Elizabeth Wood- 
mancy, who succeeded him in 1691, and kept the inn until 
1703, when she sold the estate to James Pitts. In 1708 a 
neighboring estate bounded on the house "formerly the 
Anchor Tavern." From James Pitts the owners were Ben- 
jamin Bagnal, in 1724-25 ; William Speakman, 1745 ; 1746 
Alice Quick, who bequeathed to her nephew Thomas Knight 
in 1761 ; and Mary Knight was the owner in 1798. 

Bair, Washington Street, between Dock Square and Milk 
Street. In 1722 Elizabeth Davis was licensed at the Bair 
in Cornhill. As she was the owner of the Bear at the Dock 
this may have been a mistake. 

Bear, see Thi^ee Mariners. 

Baker's Arms, in 1673 the house of John Gill was on 
the southwest corner of Hanover and Union streets, " near 
the Baker's Arms." This was possibly then the name of the 
Star Tavern or the Green Dragon. 

Baulston. William Baulston had a grant of land in 
1636-37 on the west side of Washington Street, between 
Dock Square and Court Street. In June, 1637, he was 
licensed to keep a house of entertainment. In 1638 he sold 
to Thomas Cornewell, who was licensed to keep an inn in 
room of William Baulston. In 1639-40 the property was 
bought by Edward Tyng. 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 101 

Bite, see Three Mariners. 

Black Horse, Prince Street. It is commonly asserted 
that the early name of Prince Street came from a tavern 
of that name, but thus far no such tavern has been found 
on the records. Black Horse Lane was first mentioned in 
1684. 

Black and White Horse, locality not stated. In 1767 
Kobert Sylvester was licensed. 

Blue Anchor, Washington Street, see Anchor. 
Blue Anchor, in 1760, " land where the Blue Anchor 
was before the fire near Oliver's Dock." 

Blue Anchor, locality not stated. In 1767 a man 
lodged at the Blue Anchor. 

Blue Bell, west side of Union Street, between Hanover 
and North streets. In 1663 John Button conveys to 
Edmund Jacklin his house, known as the Blue Bell. 

Blue Bell, southwest corner of Battery March and 
Water streets. The land on which this tavern stood was 
originally a marsh which the town let to Capt. James 
Johnson in 1656, he to pay an annual amount to the school 
of Boston. Part of this land was conveyed by Johnson to 
Thomas Hull. This deed is not recorded, but in 1674 in 
the deed of Eichard Woodde to John Dafforne the west 
bounds were in part on land now of Deacon Allen and Hugh 
Drury, formerly of Thomas Hull, the house called the Blew 
Bell. In 1673 the house was let to Nathaniel Bishop. In 
the inventory of the estate of Hugh Drury in 1689 his part 
is described as one half of that house Mr. Wheeler lives in 
and cooper's shop. In the partition of his estate in 1692 
there was set off to his grandson Thomas Drury one half of 
house and land commonly called the Castle Tavern, the said 
house and land being in partnership with Henry Allen. In 
the division of Allen's estate in 1703, the house and land is 
set off to his widow Judith. In 1707 Judith Allen and 



102 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Thomas Drury make a division, the west half being as- 
signed to Judith Allen and the east half to Drury. Judith 
Allen died in 1722, and in 1723 her son Henry conveyed to 
Bobert Williams the westerly part of the estate, consisting 
of dwelling house, land, and cooper's shop. Williams 
deeds to his son Eobert Williams, and the estate was in the 
family many years. 

Brazen Head, east side of Washington Street, between 
State and Water streets. Jan. 2, 1757, a soldier was 
taken with the smallpox at widow Jackson's at the Brazen 
Head. March 20, 1760, the great fire broke out here. 
Mrs. Jackson was not a property owner, but leased the 
premises. 

Brewers' Arms, east side of Washington Street, be- 
tween Bedford and Essex streets. In 1696 Sarah, widow 
of Samuel Walker, mortgages the house called the Brewers^ 
Arms in tenure of Daniel Elton (innholder). 

British Coffee-House, north side of State Street, be- 
tween Change Avenue and Merchants' Bow. In the Book 
of Possessions James Oliver was the owner of this estate. 
Elisha Cooke recovers judgment against Oliver, and sells to 
Nicholas Moorcock in 1699. Moorcock conveys to Charles 
Burnham in 1717, whose heirs convey to Jonathan Badger 
in 1773. Badger deeds to Hannah Cordis in 1775 " The 
British Coffee-House." In 1780 the heirs of Badger con- 
firm to Joseph Cordis " The American Coffee-House," and 
Cordis sells to the Massachusetts Bank in 1792. Cord 
Cordis was the innkeeper in 1771 and John Bryant was 
licensed in 1790. In 1798 this was a brick building, three 
stories, twenty-six windows, value $12,000. 

Bromfield House, Bromfield Street, see Indian Queen. 

Bull, foot of Summer Street. In the Book of Possessions 
Nicholas Baxter had house and garden here. In 1668 he 
conveyed this to John Bull and wife Mary, the daughter of 




BROMllELD HOUSE ON THE SITE OF THE "INDIAN QUEEN 
36-38 Bromfield Street 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 103 

his wife ^largaret. Baxter died in 1692, and in his will 
recites this deed and divides his personal property between 
his daughter Mary, wife of John Swett, and John and 
Mary Bull. In 1694 and 1704 Mary Swett attempted to 
regain the estate, but Bull gained his case each time. John 
Bull died in 1723, and in 1724 his son Jonathan buys the 
shares of other heirs. Jonathan died while on a visit to 
England in 1727 or 1728, and his will, probated in 1728-29, 
gives one third of his estate to his wife, and two thirds to 
his children, Elizabeth, John, and Samuel. Both sons died 
before coming of age, and Elizabeth inherited their shares. 
She married Rev. Roger Price, and they went to England. 
She died in 1780, and in 1783 her eldest son and daughter 
returned to Boston to recover the property which Barret 
Dyer, who had married Elizabeth, widow of John Bull, had 
attempted to regain. John Bull was licensed as innkeeper 
from 1689 to 1713, when his widow Mary succeeded. In 
1757 Mr. Bean was the landlord, and in 1766 the house was 
let to Benjamin Bigelow. In 1798 William Price was the 
owner and Bethia Page the occupier. A wooden house of 
two stories, thirty-one windows, value $2000. The site is 
now covered by the South Station. 

Bunch of Grapes, southeast corner of State and Kilby 
streets. The early possession of William Davis, who sold 
to William Ingram in 1658. Ingram conveyed " The Bunch 
of Grapes " to John Holbrook in 1680 ; Adm. of Holbrook to 
Thomas Waite in 1731 ; Waite to Simon Eliot in 1760 ; Eliot 
to Leonard Jarvis in 1769 ; Jarvis to Joseph Rotch, Jr., in 
1772 ; Francis Rotch to Elisha Doane, 1773 ; his heirs to 
Isaiah Doane, 1786. In 1798 it was a brick store. June 7, 
1709, Francis Holmes was the keeper and was to billet five 
soldiers at his house of public entertainment. In 1750 
kept by Weatherhead, being noted, said Goelet, as the best 
punch house in Boston. In 1757 one captain and one pri- 



104 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS, 

vate soldier to be billeted at Weatberliead's. 1764 to 1772 
Joseph Ingersol licensed. In 1790 Dudley Colman licensed. 
In 1790 James Bowdoin bequeathes house called "The 
Bunch of Grapes " to his wife. This was on the west 
corner of Kilby and State streets. 

Castle, west corner of Dock Square and Elm Street. 
In the Book of Fossessio7is William Hudson, Jr., had house 
and garden here. May 20, 1654, a street leading from the 
Castle Tavern is mentioned (Elm Street). Hudson sold ojff 
parts of his estate and in 1674 he conveyed to John Wing 
house, buildings, etc., commonly called Castle Tavern. In 
1677 Wing mortgages to William Brown of Salem " all his 
new built dwelling house, being part of that building 
formerly known as the Castle Tavern." The estate was for- 
feited, and in 1694 Brown conveys to Benjamin Pemberton 
mansion heretofore called the Castle Tavern, since the 
George Tavern, subject to Wing's right of redemption. In 
his will of 1701-02 John Wing devises to his son John 
Wing the housing and land lying near the head of the town 
dock which he purchased of Capt. William Hudson, to- 
gether with the brick messuage, formerly known by the 
name of the George Tavern, which has an encumbrance of 
1000 pounds, due William Browne, now in possession of 
Benjamin Pemberton. In 1708 Wing releases the estate 
to Pemberton. In 1710 the heirs of Pemberton convey to 
Jonathan Waldo, and the succeeding owners were : Thomas 
Flucker, 1760 ; in the same year it passes to Isaac 
Winslow and Moses Gill; Gill to Caleb Loring, 1768; 
Nathaniel Frazier, 1771 ; David Sears, 1787 ; William 
Burgess, 1790 ; Nathaniel Frazier, 1792 ; John and Jonathan 
Amory, 1793. In 1798 Colonel Brewer was the occupier. 
A brick house, two stories, twelve windows, value $4000. 
Castle, Battery March and Water streets, see Blue Bell 
Castle, northeast corner of North and Fleet streets. 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 105 

The early possession of Thomas Savage, John Crabtree 
acquires, and in 1654 conveys to Bartholomew Barnard. 
Barnard sells to Edward Cock in 1672-73 ; Cock to Marga- 
ret Thatcher, who conveys to William Colman in 1679. 
Colman to William Everden in 1694-95, who mortgages to 
Francis Holmes. Holmes conveys to John Wentworth in 
1708. In 1717 John Wentworth conveys to Thomas Lee 
house known as the " Castle Tavern, occupied by Sarah 
Hunt." In 1768 Thomas Love and wife Deborah (Lee) 
deed to Andrew Newell, the " Castle Tavern," and the same 
year Newell to Joseph Lee. In 1785 Joseph Lee conveys 
to Joseph Austin the "King's Head Tavern." In 1798 
owned and occupied by Austin. House of three and two 
stories, twenty-five windows, value $3000. 

Castle, locality not stated. In 1721 Adrian, widow of 
John Cunningham, was licensed at the Castle, and in 1722 
Mary English. 

Cole, Samuel Cole's inn, west side of Washington Street, 
corner of Williams Court, site of Thompson's Spa. In 
1633-34 Samuel Cole set up the first house of common 
entertainment. In 1635 he was licensed to keep an ordi- 
nary, and in 1637-38 had leave to sell his house for an 
inn to Robert Sedgwick. In 1646 James Penn was 
licensed here. Lt. William Phillips acquired the property, 
and in 1656-57 mortgages " The Ship Tavern." He con- 
veys it to Ca.pt. Thomas Savage in 1660. The later owners 
were Ephraim Savage, 1677-78 ; Zachariah Trescott, 1712 ; 
Nicholas Bouve, 1715 ; John Comrin, 1742 ; Jonathan 
Mason, 1742 ; James Lloyd, 1763, in whose family it re- 
mained many years. 

Concert Hall, south corner of Hanover and Court 
streets. In the Book of Possessions Jeremiah Houchin 
had house and garden here. His widow sold to Thomas 
Snawsell in 1670, and Snawsell to John Russell in 1671 ; 



106 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Eleazar Kussell to John Gardner and Priscilla Hunt in 
1689-90 ; the heirs of Gardner to Gilbert and Lewis Deblois 
in 1749; Deblois to Stephen Deblois in 1754, and he to 
William Turner in 1769 ; Turner conveyed to John and 
Jonathan Amory in 1789. In 1798 John Amory was the 
owner and James Villa the occupier. A brick house, three 
stories, thirty windows, value $3000. Villa had been a 
tenant, and was licensed as an innkeeper for some years. 
Before it became a tavern the hall was used for various 
purposes — for meetings, musical concerts, and by the 
Grand Masons. 

Cromwell's Head or Sign of Oliver Cromwell, north 
side of School Street. In the Book of Possessions Richard 
Hutchinson was the owner of land here. Abraham Brown 
acquired before 1658 ; Sarah (Brown) Eogers inherits in 
1689-90, and in 1692 Gamaliel Rogers conveyed to Duncan 
McFarland ; Mary (McFarland) Perkins inherits, and John 
Perkins deeds to Joseph Maylem in 1714; John Maylem 
inherits in 1733, and the next owner is Elizabeth (Maylem) 
Bracket, wife of Anthony Bracket. In 1764 Elizabeth 
Bracket was licensed at her house in School Street, and 
Joshua Bracket was licensed in 1768. In 1796 Abigail 
Bracket conveyed to John Warren, who was the owner in 
1798, and Henry Vose the occupier. A wooden house, three 
stories, thirty windows, value $6000. 

Crown Coffee-House, north side of State Street, the 
first house on Long wharf (site of the Fidelity Trust Co. 
building). Jonathan Belcher was a proprietor of Long 
Wharf, which was extended from State Street in 1710. In 
1749 his son Andrew Belcher conveyed to Richard Smith 
" The Crown Coffee-House," Smith to Robert Shellcock in 
1751, and the administrator of Shellcock to Benjamin 
Brown in 1788. In 1798 stores covered the site. In 1714 
Thomas Selby was licensed as an innholder at the Crown 







•XevrHampfhirc 



■>>,iK-*^y 



LIST OF TAVEBNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 107 

Coffee-House, and he died here in 1727. In 1729 William 
Burgess was licensed, and in 1730 and 1733 Edward 
Lutwych ; 1762 Rebecca Coffin ; 1766 E-ichard Bradford ; and 
in 1772 Rebecca Coffin. 

Dolphin, east side of North Street, at the foot of Rich- 
mond Street. Nicholas Upshall was the owner of the land 
in 1644. He deeds to his son-in-law William Greenough in 
1660. Henry Gibbs and wife Mercy (Greenough) inherit in 
1694-95. In 1726-27 Henry Gibbs conveys to Noah 
Champney " The Dolphin Tavern." John Lowell and wife 
Sarah (Champney) inherit, and deed to Neil Mclntire in 
1753, Mclntire to Neil Mclntire of Portsmouth in 1784, 
and he to William Welsh in 1785, Welsh to Prince Snow in 
1798. In 1798 it was a wooden house of two stories and 
eleven windows, value $600. The Dolphin Tavern is men- 
tioned by Sewall in 1718. In 1726-27 Mercy Gibbs was 
licensed ; in 1736 Alice Norwood, and 1740 James Stevens. 

Dove, Sign of the, northeast corner of Boylston and 
Tremont streets. In the Book of Possessions Thomas Snow 
was the owner, and in 1667 he mortgages his old house to 
which the Sign of the Dove is fastened. William Wright 
and wife Milcha (Snow) inherit and in 1683 convey to 
Samuel Shrimpton, the heirs of Shrimpton to Adam Colson 
in 1781, Colson to William Cunningham in 1787, Cunning- 
ham to Francis Amory in 1793, Amory to Joseph Head in 
1795. 

Drum, Sign of the, locality not stated. In 1761 and 
1776 mentioned in the Toivn Records. 

Exchange, northwest corner of State and Exchange 
streets. In 1646 Anthony Stoddard and John Leverett 
deed to Henry Shrimpton house and land. His son Samuel 
inherits in 1666, and in 1697-98 Samuel Shrimpton, Jr., 
inherits " the Exchange Tavern." He mortgages to Nicho- 
las Roberts in 1703, and the administrators of Roberts con- 



108 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS, 

vey to Eobert Stone in 1754 " the Koyal Exchange Tavern." 
In 1784 Daniel Parker and wife Sally (Stone) convey to 
Benjamin Hitchbone. In 1798 Israel Hatch was the occu- 
pier. A brick house, four stories, thirty windows, value 
$12,000. In 1690-91 the Exchange Tavern is mentioned 
by Judge Sewall. In 1714 Eowland Dike petitioned for a 
license. In 1764 Seth Blodgett was licensed, 1770 Mr. 
Stone, 1772 Daniel Jones, 1776 Benjamin Loring, 1788 
John Bowers, 1798 Israel Hatch. 

Exchange Cof fee-House, southeast corner of State and 
Devonshire streets. In the Book of Possessions the land 
was owned by Robert Scott. The house was built in 1804 
and burnt in 1818 ; rebuilt in 1822 and closed as a tavern 
in 1854. 

Flower de Liuce, west side of North Street, between 
Union and Cross streets. In 1675 Elizabeth, widow of 
Edmund Jackson, mortgages her house, known by the name 
of Flower de Luce, in tenure of Christopher Crow. 

George, west side of Washington Street, near the Eox- 
bury line. The land was a grant of the town to James 
Penn in 1644. In 1652 he deeds, as a gift, five acres to 
Margery, widow of Jacob Eliot, for the use of her children. 
In 1701 Eliezer Holyoke and wife Mary (Eliot) convey to 
Stephen Minot. In 1701-02 Minot petitions for a license to 
keep an inn or tavern at his house, nigh Roxbury gate. 
This is disapproved. In 1707 the George Tavern is men- 
tioned. In 1708-09 Samuel Meeres petitions to sell strong 
drink as an innholder at the house of Stephen Minot, in the 
room of John Gibbs, who is about to quit his license, and in 
1722-23 he was still an innholder there. In 1726 Simon 
Rogers was licensed. In 1733- Stephen Minot, Jr., inherits 
the George Tavern, now in occupation of Simon Rogers. In 
1734-35 occupied by Andrew Haliburton. In 1768 Gideon 
Gardner was licensed. Stephen Minot, Jr., conveys to 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 109 

Samuel and William Brown in 1738 ; William Brown to 
Aaron W^illard in 1792. In 1770 Thomas Bracket was ap- 
proved as a taverner in the house on the Neck called the 
King's Arms, formerly the George Tavern, lately kept by 
Mrs. Bowdine. Aug. 1, 1775, the George Tavern was burnt 
by the Kegulars, writes Timothy Newell in his diary. 

George, corner Dock Square and Elm Street, see Castle. 

Globe, northeast corner of Commercial and Hanover 
streets. In the Book of Possessio7is the estate of William 
Douglass. Eliphalet Hett and wife Ann (Douglass) inherit ; 
Nathaniel Parkman and wife Hannah (Hett) inherit. In 
1702 Hannah Parkman conveys to Edward Budd ; Budd to 
James Barnard in 1708. Barnard to John Greenough in 
1711. In the division of the Greenough estate this was set 
off to William and Newman Greenough. Greenough to 
Joseph Oliver in 1779. Oliver to Henry H. Williams in 
1788. In 1741 and 1787 the Globe Tavern is mentioned in 
the Toivn Records. 

Goat, locality not stated ; in 1737 mentioned in the 
inventory of Elisha Cooke. 

Golden Ball, northwest corner of Merchants' Eow and 
Corn Court. Edward Tyng was the first owner of the land, 
Theodore Atkinson acquired before 1662, and conveys to 
Henry Deering in 1690. In 1731 part of Deering's estate 
was the house known as the " Golden Ball," now occupied 
by Samuel Tyley. Mary (Deering) Wilson inherits and 
bequeathes to her niece Mary (Deering), wife of John 
Gooch. In 1795 Benjamin Gerrish Gray and wife Mary 
(Gooch) convey to James Tisdale house known by the name 
of the Golden Ball Tavern. In 1798 stores covered the 
site. In 1711 Samuel Tyley petitions for renewal of his 
license upon his removal from the Salutation to Mr. Deer- 
ing's house in Merchants' Row. In 1757 it was kept by 
John Marston. 



110 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Grand Turk, Sign of, Washington Street, between 
Winter and Boylston. In 1789 Israel Hatch (inn- 
holder). 

Green Drag'on, west side of Union Street, north of 
Hanover. In the Book of Possessions James Johnson 
owned three fourths of an acre on the mill pond. The next 
estate that separated him from Hanover Street was owned 
by John Davis. In 1646 Johnson deeds to Thomas Mar- 
shall, and Marshall to Thomas Hawkins. In 1645 John 
Davis deeds to John Trotman, whose wife Katherine on 
the same day conveys to Thomas Hawkins. In 1671 
Hawkins mortgages to Samson Sheafe, and January, 
1671-02, the property is delivered to Sheafe. In 1672-03 
Sheafe deeds part to John Howlett (see Star Tavern), 
bounded northwest by William Stoughton. No deed is 
recorded to Stoughton. Stoughton died in 1701, and this 
estate fell to his granddaughter Mehitable, wife of Capt. 
Thomas Cooper. She later married Peter Sargent and 
Simeon Stoddard. In 1743 her son Rev. William Cooper 
conveys the brick dwelling called the Green Dragon Tavern 
to Dr. William Douglass. On the division of the estate of 
Douglass this fell to his sister Catherine Kerr, who in 
1765 deeds to St. Andrews Lodge of Free Masons. In 1798 
it is described as a brick dwelling, three stories, thirty-nine 
windows, with stable, value $3000. In 1714 William 
Patten, late of Charlestown, petitions to sell strong drink 
as an innholder at the Green Dragon in the room of 
Richard Pullen, who hath quitted his license there. 

Gutteridge Coffee-House, north side of State Street, 
between Washington and Exchange streets. Robert Gut- 
teridge was a tenant of Hezekiah Usher in 1688, and was 
licensed in 1691. In 1718 Mary Gutteridge petitions for 
the renewal of her late husband's license to keep a public 
coffee-house. 



EXCHANGE COFFEE-HOUSE, 1848 
From State Street, looking south do-wn Congress Square 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. Ill 

Half Moon, southwest side of Portland Street. Henry 
Pease was the owner of the land in the Book of Possessions. 
He conveys to Thomas Matson in 1648, and Joshua Matson 
to Edward Cricke in 1685. In 1705 his widow Deborah 
Cricke conveys to Thomas Gwin house commonly called 
" The Half Moon." In 1713 Gwin sells to William Clarke. 
The children of Sarah (Clarke) Kilby inherit and deed to 
John Bradford in 1760. His heirs were owners in 1798. 
A brick house, two stories, thirty-nine windows, value 
$4000. 

Hancock, Corn Court. This property was acquired by 
John Kendric, who sells to Eobert Breck in 1652-53. Later 
owners, Thomas Watkins 1653, James Green 1659, Samuel 
Green 1712, Thomas Bromfield 1760, Joseph Jackson 1763. 
Jackson deeds to Morris Keefe in 1779, whose daughter 
Mary, wife of John Duggan, inherits in 1795. In 1798 it 
was a wooden house, two stories, twelve windows, value 
$1200. 

Hatch, east side Tremont Street, between West and 
Boylston streets. The land was a grant of the town to 
Eichard Bellingham in 1665. Martin Sanders acquires and 
deeds to ^neas Salter, and Salter to Sampson Sheaf in 
1677. Jacob Sheaf to Abiah Holbrook in 1753. Adm. of 
Eebecca Holbrook to Israel Hatch in 1794. 1796 Israel 
Hatch (innkeeper). 

Hawk, Summer Street. In 1740 mentioned in the 
Toiuji Records. 

Horse Shoe, east side of Tremont Street, between School 
and Bromfield streets. In the Book of Possessions this was 
part of the land of Zaccheus Bosworth. His daughter 
Elizabeth and her husband John Morse convey to John 
Evered, alias Webb, in 1660 ; Webb to William Pollard in 
1663. John Pollard deeds to Jonathan Pollard in 1722 the ' 
" Horse Shoe Tavern." In 1782 the heirs of Pollard con- 



112 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

vey to George Hamblin, who occupied it in 1798. A wooden 
house, two stories, eleven windows, value $1500. In 1738 
Alex Cochran was licensed here. 

Indiau Queen, later Bromfield House, south side of 
Bromfield Street. The possession of William Aspinwall, 
who deeds the land to John Angier in 1652, and in the 
same year it passes to Sampson Shore and Theodore Atkin- 
son ; Atkinson to Edward Eawson in 1653-54 ; Kawson to 
Eobert Noaxe, 1672 ; Noaxe to Joseph Whitney, 1675 ; 
Whitney to Edward Bromfield, 1684 ; Edward Bromfield, 
Jr., to Benjamin Kent, 1748 ; Ex. of Kent to Henry New- 
man, 1760 ; Newman to John Ballard, 1782. In 1798 it 
was occupied by Abel Wheelock, Trask, and Brown. A 
brick and wooden house, two stories, thirty-four windows, 
value $4500, with a stable. 

Julien Restorator, northwest corner of Milk and Con- 
gress streets. In the Book of Possessions John Spoor had a 
house and one acre here, which he mortgaged to Nicholas 
Willis in 1648. In 1648-49 Henry Bridgham sold a house 
on Washington Street to John Spoore, so it may be possible 
that they exchanged lots. In 1655 Bridgham was the owner. 
He died in 1681, and his widow in 1672. In 1680 his 
estate was divided among his three sons. John, the eldest, 
settled in Ipswich, inherited the new house, and that in- 
cluded the west portion. In 1719 he deeds his share to his 
nephew Joseph Bridgham, who in 1734-35 conveys to 
Francis Borland, then measuring 106 ft. on Milk Street. 
Borland also bought a strip of James Dalton in 1763, which 
addition reached the whole length of the lot, which has 
been abridged by the laying out of Dalton's Lane (Congress 
Street). Francis Borland died in 1763, and left the Milk 
Street estate to his son Francis Lindall Borland, who was 
absent and feared to be dead. Jane Borland married John 
Still Winthrop, and in 1765 the estate was divided among 



■efc ~7-r 


■^1 


PBff^^ 


1^9 




WU 



mStW^ 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 113 

the Winthrop children. These heirs conveyed the Congress 
Street corner to Thomas Clement in 1787, and in 1794 he 
sold it to Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien (res- 
torator). Julien died in 1806, and his heirs conveyed it in 
1823 to the Commercial Co. The house was taken down in 
1824. In 1798 it was a wooden dwelling, three stories, 
eighteen windows, value $6000. 

KinjT's Arms, west side of Washington Street, between 
Brattle and Court streets. Nearly all of the original lot 
was taken for the extension of Washington Street, and the 
exact location obliterated. It was one of the estates at the 
head of the Dock. In the Book of Possessions, owned by 
Hugh Gunnison, who in 1646 was licensed to keep a house 
of entertainment. Oct. 28, 1650, he mortgages the estate 
called the King's Arms, and in 1651 conveys it to John 
Samson, Henry Shrimpton, and William Brenton (see 
iSuff. Deeds, Lib. 1, fol. 135, where there is an interesting 
and complete inventory). Henry Shrimpton gets possession 
of the whole, and in his will, 1666, bequeathes to his 
daughter Sarah Shrimpton " the house formerly called the 
States Arms." In 1668-69 Eliakim Hutchinson, on his 
marriage with Sarah Shrimpton, puts the estate in trust for 
his wife, "heretofore called the King's Arms." He also 
enlarged the estate by buying adjoining land of the Wil- 
liam Tyng and Thomas Brattle estates. By the will of 
Eliakim Hutchinson in 1718, and that of his wife in 1720, 
the whole estate went to their son William Hutchinson, 
who in 1721 devised to his son Eliakim Hutchinson. 
Eliakim still further enlarged the estate. He was a Loyal- 
ist, and his estate was confiscated. In 1782 the govern- 
ment conveyed part of it to Thomas Green and the re- 
mainder to John Lucas and Edward Tuckerman. 

King's Arms, west side of iSTorth Street, between Sun 
Court and Elect Street. The lot of Thomas Clarke in the 



114 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Book of Possessions, which he sold to Launcelot Baker in 
1648, and Baker to George Halsey in 1648, the trustees of 
Halsey to Evan Thomas in 1656, "The King's Arms." 
In 1680 his widow Alice Thomas mortgages the house 
formerly known as King's Arms, and she sells it in 1698 to 
Joseph Bill. 

King's Arms, on the Neck, see George. 

King's Head, northeast corner of North and Fleet 
streets, see Castle. 

Liamb and White Lamb, west side of Washington 
Street, between West and Boylston streets, on the site of 
the Adams House, the original lot of Richard Brocket, 
which he deeds to Jacob Leger in 1638 ; and Ann Leger, 
widow, to John Blake in 1664 ; Blake to Edward Durant in 
1694 ; Durant to Jonathan Waldo the southern part in 
1713-14 ; Jonathan Waldo, Jr., to Samuel Cookson in 1780 ; 
Cookson to Joel Crosby in 1795. In 1798 Joel Crosby was 
the owner and occupier of the Lamb Tavern. A wooden 
building of two stories, twenty-four windows, value $4200. 
In 1738 it was mentioned in the Town Records, and in 1782 
Augustus Moor was licensed there. 

Liighthouse, 1766, mentioned in the Town Records. 
It was not far from the Old North Meeting House. 

Lion, Sign of, Washington Street, between Winter and 
Boylston streets. 1796 Henry Vose (innholder). 

Logwood Tree, Sign of, south side of Commercial 
Street, between Hanover and North streets. The lot of 
John Seabury in the Book of Possessions, which he deeds to 
Alex Adams in 1645, Adams to Nathaniel Fryer in 1653-54, 
and Fryer to John Scarlet in 1671. Scarlet to Joseph Par- 
minter in 1671-72. In 1734-35 Hannah Emmes, sister of 
Parminter, conveys to John Read the house known as the 
" Sign of the Logwood Tree " ; Read to Thomas Bently in 
1744, and Bently to Joshua Bently 1756. In 1798 it was 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 115 

occupied by Captain Caswell. A wooden house, two stories, 
fourteen windows, value SIOOO. In 1732 mentioned in the 
Town Records. See also Queen^s Head. 

Marlborough Arms and Marlborough Head, south 
side of State Street, east of Kilby Street. In 1640 William 
Hudson was allowed to keep an ordinary. His son conveys 
this in 1648 to Francis Smith, and Smith to John Holland. 
Judith Holland conveys to Thomas Peck in 1656 ; Thomas 
Peck, Jr., to James Gibson, 1711. In 1722 Mary Gibson 
deeds to her children " house named Marlborough next the 
Grapes." James Gibson to Eoger Passmore, 1741 ; Pass- 
more to Simon Eliot, 1759 ; Eliot to Leonard, 1760 ; Jarvis 
to Benjamin Parker, 1766 ; John Erving acquires and deeds 
to William Stackpole, 1784. In 1798 it had been converted 
into a brick store. Elisha Odling was licensed in 1720, 
Sarah Wormal in 1721, and Elizabeth Smith 1722. 

Mitre, east side of North Street, at the head of Hancock 
Wharf (Lewis Wharf), between Sun Court and Fleet 
Street. The lot of Samuel Cole in the Book of Possessions, 
which he conveys to George Halsey in 1645 ; Halsey to 
Nathaniel Patten, 1654 ; Patten to Eobert Cox, 1681 ; Cox 
to John Kind, 1683-84; Jane Kind to Thomas Clarke 
(pewterer), 1705-06 ; Clarke to John Jeffries, 1730. His 
nephew David Jeffries inherits in 1778, from whom it went 
to Joseph Eckley and wife Sarah (Jeffries). In 1782 heirs 
of John Jeffries owned house " formerly the Mitre Tavern." 
In 1798 the house had been taken down. 

Noah's Ark, southwest corner North and Clarke streets. 
The early possession of Capt. Thomas Hawkins. He was 
lost at sea, and his widow married (2) John Fenn and (3) 
Henry Shrimpton. In 1657 William Phillips conveys to 
Mary Fenn the house called Noah's Ark, the property of 
her first husband Thomas Hawkins, and which her son-in- 
law John Aylett had mortgaged to William Hudson, by 



116 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

whom it was sold to William Phillips. In 1657 Mary Fenn 
conveys to George Mount joy, and in 1663 Mount joy to 
John Vial. In 1695 Vial deeds to Thomas Hutchinson. In 
1713 the house was known as Ship Tavern, heretofore Noah's 
Ark, in part above and in part below the street called Ship 
Street. 

North Coffee-House, North Street. Dec. 12, 1702, 
Edward Morrell was licensed. 

North End Coffee-House, northwest side of North 
Street, between Sun Court and Fleet Street. The land of 
Capt. Thomas Clarke in the Book of Possessions. Elisha 
Hutchinson and wife Elizabeth (Clarke) inherit. Edward 
Hutchinson conveys to Thomas Savage in 1758. John 
Savage inherits, and deeds to Joseph Tahon in 1781, Tahon 
to Eobert Wier in 1786, Wier to John May in 1795 the 
"North End Coffee-House." In 1782 Capt. David Porter 
was licensed to keep a tavern at the North End Coffee- 
House. In 1798 John May was owner and occupier. A 
brick house, three stories, forty-five windows, value $4500. 

Orange Tree, northeast corner of Hanover and Court 
streets. Land first granted to Edmund Jackson, Thomas 
Leader acquires before 1651, and his heirs deed to Bozoon 
Allen in 1678. Allen conveys in 1700 to Francis Cook 
" the Orange Tree Inn." Benjamin Morse and wife Frances 
(Cook) inherit. John Tyng and wife Mary (Morse), daugh- 
ter of Benjamin, inherit. John Marshall and other heirs 
of Tyng owners in 1785 and 1798, when it was unoccupied. 
A wooden house, three stories, fifty-three windows, value 
$4000. In 1712 Jonathan Wardell, who had married 
Frances (Cook), widow of Benjamin Morse, was licensed, 
and from 1724 to 1746 Mrs. Wardell was licensed. 

Peacock, west side of North Street, between Board 
Alley and Cross Street, on the original estate of Sampson 
Shore, who conveyed to Edwin Goodwin in 1648, and he to 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 117 

Nathaniel Adams. In 1707-08 Joseph and other children 
of Nathaniel Adams deed to Thomas Harris house and land 
near the Turkey or Peacock. In 1705 Elihu Warden owns 
a shop over against the Peacock Tavern. Sept. 26, 1709, 
Thomas Lee petitions to keep a victualling house at a hired 
house which formerly was the Sign of the Turkic Cock. 

Peggy 3Ioore's Boarding House, southwest corner of 
Washington and Boylston streets. On the original estate 
of Jacob Eliot. His daughter Hannah Frary inherits, 
Abigail (Frary) Arnold inherits, and then Hannah (Arnold), 
wife of Samuel Welles. In 1798 Samuel Welles owner, 
and he with Mrs. Brown and Peggy Moore occupiers. A 
wooden house, two stories, and seventy-one windows, value 
$10,000. 

Pine Tree, Dock Square. In 1785 Capt. Benjamin Gor- 
ham was licensed on Dock Square, at the house known by 
the name of the Pine Tree Tavern. Gorham bought a house 
in 1782 of John Steel Tyler and wife Mary (Whitman), situ- 
ated on northwest side of North Street, between Cross 
Street and Scott Alley, which he sold in 1786 to John 
Hinckley. 

Punch Bowl, Sign of the. Dock Square. 1789 Mrs. 
Baker (innholder). 

Queen's Head, Fleet Street. April 19, 1728, Anthony 
Young petitions to remove his license from the Salutation 
in Ship Street to the Sign of the Swan in Fleet Street, 
and set up the Sign of the Queen's Head there. Nov. 28, 
1732, Joseph Pearse petitions to remove his license from 
the house where he lives, the Sign of the Logwood Tree 
in Lynn Street, to the house near Scarlett's Wharf at the 
Sign of the Queen's Head, where Anthony Young last dwelt. 

Red Cross, southwest corner of North and Cross streets. 
In 1746 John Osborn (innholder) bought land of Tolman 
Farr, to whom it had descended from Barnabas Fawer, who 



118 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

bought it of Valentine Hill in 1646. The children of 
Osborn sold it in 1756 to Ichabod Jones, whose son John 
Coffin Jones inherited. 

Red !Lyon, northeast corner of North and Richmond 
streets. Nicholas Upshall was the owner in 1644. Nov. 
9, 1654, Francis Brown's house was near the Ked Lyon. 
Joseph Cock and wife Susannah (Upshall) inherit half in 
1666, Edward Proctor and wife Elizabeth (Cock) inherit 
in 1693-94 half of the Eed Lyon Inn, John Proctor deeds 
to Edward Proctor in 1770, Proctor to Charles Ryan in 
1790, Ryan to Thomas Kast in 1791, Kast to Reuben Car- 
ver in 1794. In 1798 William T. Clapp was occupier. A 
brick and wooden dwelling, three and two stories, twenty- 
four windows, value $2500. In 1763 mentioned in the 
Totv7i Records. 

Red Lyon, Washington Street, see Lion. 1798 James 
Clark (innholder). 

Rising" Sun, Washington Street, between School and 
Winter streets. 1800 Luther Emes (innholder). 

Roebuck, east side of Merchants' Row (Swing Bridge 
Lane) a grant of land to Leonard Buttles in 1648-49. He sold 
to Richard Staines in 1655, whose widow Joyce Hall deeds 
to Thomas Winsor in 1691 ; Winsor mortgages to Giles 
Dyer in 1706, who deeds the same year to Thomas Loring ; 
Loring to John Barber in 1712 ; Barber to John Pim in 
1715. Samuel AVright and wife Mary (Pim) inherit. Jane 
Moncrief acquires, and conveys to William Welch in 1793, 
Welch to William Wittington in 1794. In 1798 William 
Wittington, Jr., was the occupier. House of brick and 
wood, three stories, nineteen windows, value $2500. In 
1776 Elizabeth Wittington was licensed as an innholder at 
the Roebuck, Dock Square. In 1790 William Wittington at 
the Sign of the Roebuck was next to John Sheppard. 

Roebuck, Battery March. July 29, 1702, house of 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 119 

Widow Salter at the Sign of the Roebuck, nigh the South 
Battery. 

Rose and Crown, southwest corner of State and Devon- 
shire streets. Thomas Matson was an early owner of the 
land. He deeds to Henry Webb in 1638, Webb to Henry 
Phillips in 1656-57. His widow Mary deeds to her son 
Samuel " the Rose and Crown " in 1705-06, Gillum Phillips 
to Peter Faneuil in 1738, George Bethune and wife Mary 
(Faneuil) to Abiel Smith in 1787. In 1798 a brick house, 
three stories, forty-four windows, value $9000. Dec. 29, 
1697, a lane leading from the Rose and Crown Tavern 
(Devonshire Street). 

Royal Exchang-e, State Street, see Exchange. 
Salutation, northeast corner of North and Salutation 
streets. James Smith acquired the land at an early date. 
He deeds to Christopher Lawson, and Lawson to William 
Winburne in 1664 ; Winburne to John Brookins in 1662 
" the Salutation Inn." Elizabeth, widow of Brookins, mar- 
ried (2) Edward Grove, who died in 1686, and (3) William 
Green. In 1692 William Green and wife Elizabeth convey 
to William Phipps house called the Salutation. Spencer 
Phipps inherits in 1695, Phipps to John Langdon in 1705, 
the heirs of Langdon to Thomas Bradford in 1766, Brad- 
ford to Jacob Rhodes in 1784, house formerly " the Two 
Palaverers." In 1798 it was occupied by George Singleton 
and Charles Shelton. A wooden house, two stories, thirty- 
five windows, value $2500. In 1686 Edward Grove was 
licensed, Samuel Tyley in 1711, Elisha Odling 1712, John 
Langdon, Jr., 1714. In 1715 he lets to Elisha Odling, 
Arthur Young 1722, Samuel Green 1731, Edward Drinker 
1736. In 1757 called Two Palaverers. William Campbell 
licensed 1764, Francis Wright 1767, Thomas Bradford 1782, 
Jacob Rhodes 1784. 

Schooner in Distress and Sign of the Schooner, 



120 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

North Street, between Cross and Kichmond streets. 1761 
mentioned in the Town Records. 

Seven Stars, northwest corner of Summer and Hawley 
streets. The possession of John Palmer. His widow 
Audrey deeds to Henry Rust in 1652; Rust to his son 
Nathaniel, 1684-85 ; Nathaniel to Robert Earle, 1685 ; Earle 
to Thomas Banister, 1698, house being known by the name 
of Seven Stars ; Samuel Banister to Samuel Tilly, 1720 ; 
Tilly to William Speakman, 1727 ; Speakman to Leonard 
Vassal, 1728 ; Vassal to John Barnes and others for Trinity 
Church. 

Ship, North Street, see Noah's Ark. 

Ship, Washington Street, see Cole^s Inn. 

Ship, Sig-n of, west side of North Street, between Sun 
Court and Fleet Street. The original possession of Thomas 
Joy, who sold to Henry Fane, and Fane to Richard Way in 
1659-60, Thomas Kellond 1777, Robert Bronsdon 1678-79, 
William Clarke 1707-08, Joseph Glidden 1728, and his 
heirs to John Ballard 1781. In 1789 eTohn Ballard was 
innkeeper here. The Executor of Ballard conveys to John 
Page, and Page to George R. Cushing of Hingham in 1797. 
In 1798 it was a wooden building, three stories, twenty-nine 
windows, value $1850, and occupied by Ebenezer Knowlton, 
Ziba French, and John Daniels. 

Shippen's Crane, Dock Square. 1739 John Ballard 
licensed as retailer. 

Star, northwest corner of Hanover and Union streets. 
The lot of John Davis in the Book of Possessions. He 
deeds to John Trotman in 1645, whose wife Katherine 
deeds on the same day to Thomas Hawkins. In 1671 
Hawkins mortgages to Sampson Sheafe, and in 1671-72 
the property is delivered to Sheafe. 1672-73 Sheafe con- 
veys to John Howlet, and in 1676 Susannah, wife of 
Howlet, deeds to Andrew Neale. 1709-10 the heirs of 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 121 

Neale deed to John Borland house by the name of " the 
Star," now occupied by Stephen North and Charles Salter. 
John Borland inherits 1727. Jonathan Simpson and wife 
Jane (Borland) convey to William Frobisher in 1787. In 
1798 it was a wooden house, two stories, twenty-eight win- 
dows, value S3000. Frobisher and Thomas Dillaway were 
the occupiers. 1699 the fore street leading to Star Inn 
mentioned. 1700 house near the Star Ale House. In 1722 
John Thing was licensed. 1737 house formerly the Star 
Tavern in Union Street. 

State's Arms, Washington Street. See King's Arms. 

Sun, Faneuil Hall Square. In the Book of Possessions 
Edward Bendall had house and garden here. He mort- 
gaged to Symon Lynde, who took possession in 1653. His 
son Samuel Lynde inherits in 1687, and his heirs make a 
division in 1736. Joseph Gooch and others convey to 
Joseph Jackson in 1769 the Sun Tavern. Jackson's widow 
Mary inherits in 1796 and occupied the house with others 
in 1798, when it was a brick house, three stories, twenty-two 
windows, value $8000. 1694-95 street running to the 
dock by the Sun Tavern. 1699-1700 now occupied by 
James Meeres. 1709 owned by Samuel Lynde, now in 
possession of Thomas Phillips. 1757 Capt. James Day was 
licensed. 

Sun, west side of Washington Street, between Brattle 
and Court streets. In 1782 Gillum Taylor deeds his estate 
to John Hinckley bounded south by the land in possession 
of Benjamin Edes, late the Sun Tavern. 

Swan, west side of Commercial Street, near the Ferry. 
In 1651 Thomas Eucke mortgages his house called The 
Swan, which he bought of Christopher Lawson in 1648, 
and he of Thomas Buttolph, who was the original owner. 

Swan, Sign of the, see Queen's Head. In 1708 Fish 
Street (North Street) extends to the Sign of the Swan by 
Scarlett's Wharf. 



122 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 

Swann, locality not stated. 1777 mentioned in Town 
Records. 

Three Crowns, North Street, between Cross and Kich- 
mond streets. 1718 Thomas Coppin licensed. 1735 men- 
tioned in the Town Records. 

Three Horse Shoes, west side of Washington Street, 
between School and Bromfield streets. The original pos- 
session of William Aspinwall, who deeds land to John 
Angier in 1652. The heirs of Edmund Eangier to William 
Turner in 1697. Turner to George Sirce in 1713. William 
Gatcomb and wife Mary (Sirce) inherit. In 1744 Philip 
Gatcomb mortgages house known by the Sign of the Three 
Horse Shoes ; William Gatcomb to Gilbert Deblois, Jr., in 
1784 ; Lewis Deblois to Christopher Gore, 1789 ; Gore to 
James Cutler and Jonathan Amory, 1793 ; Cutler to Jona- 
than Amory, Jr., 1797. 

Tliree Mariners, south side of Faneuil Hall Square. 
The original possession of Isaac Grosse. Thomas Grosse 
conveys to Joseph Pemberton in 1679, and Joseph to Ben- 
jamin Pemberton in 1701-02 " the Three Mariners." In 
1701-02 occupied by Edward Bedford. In 1712 the execu- 
tor of Benjamin Pemberton deeds to Benjamin Davis the 
house known by the name of the " Three Mariners." In 
1723 the house of Elizabeth, widow of Benjamin Davis, 
known as " Bear Tavern," conveyed to Henry Whitten, 
Whitten to John Hammock in 1734-35, Ebenezer Miller 
and wife Elizabeth (Hammock) to William Boyce in 1772, 
Boyce to William Stackpole in 1795 the house known as 
the " Bear Tavern." In 1798 it was a wooden house, three 
stories, fourteen windows, value $5000, and occupied by 
Peter Eichardson. In the nineteenth century it was known 
as the " Bite." 

Three Mariners, at the lower end of State Street. 1719 
Thomas Finch licensed. 



LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVERN OWNERS. 123 

Turkic Cock, see Peacock. 

Two Palavcrcrs, see Salutation. 

Union Flag, Battery March. 1731 William HallowelPs 
house, known by the name of Union Flag. Possibly not a 
tavern. 

Vernon's Head and Admiral Vernon, northeast cor- 
ner of State Street and Merchants' Eow. The early pos- 
session of Edward Tyng, who sold to James Everill 1651- 
52, and he to John Evered alias Webb in 1657. Webb con- 
veyed to William Alford in 1664. Peter Butler and wife 
Mary (Alford) inherit, and deed to James Gooch in 1720. 
In 1760 John Gooch conveys to Tuthill Hubbard the " Ver- 
non's Head." In 1798 it was a brick store. In 1745 Richard 
Smith was licensed, Thomas Hubbard 1764. In 1766 Wil- 
liam Taunt, who has been at the Admiral Vernon several 
years, prays for a recommendation for keeping a tavern at 
the large house lately occupied by Potter and Gregory 
near by. Sarah Bean licensed 1774, Nicholas Lobdell 1776 
and 1786, John Bryant 1790. 

White Bear, Sign of, location not stated. 1757 men- 
tioned in the Town Records. 

White Horse, west side of Washington Street, between 
West and Boylston streets. Land owned by Elder William 
Colburne in the Book of Possessions. Moses Paine and 
wife Elizabeth (Colburne) inherit. Thomas Powell and 
wife Margaret (Paine) inherit. In 1700 Powell conveys to 
Thomas Brattle the inn known as the White Horse. Wil- 
liam Brattle mortgages to John Marshall in 1732, and 
Marshall deeds to Jonathan Dwight in 1740. William 
Bowdoin recovers judgment from Dwight and conveys to 
Joseph Morton in 1765 ; Morton to Perez Morton, 1791. In 
1798 it was occupied by Aaron Emmes. A wooden house, 
two stories, twenty-six windows, value $9000. In 1717 
Thomas Chamberlain was licensed, William Cleeres in 1718, 



124 LIST OF TAVERNS AND TAVEBN OWNERS. 

Mrs. Moulton 1764, Israel Hatch 1787, Joseph Morton 1789, 
Aaron Emmes 1798. 

White Horse, Sign of the, C .bridge Street, near 
Charles River Bridge. 1789 Moses Bradley (innkeeper). 



•*f^ 



Va JJe^n-i/JiJ/ ^' /rA<7./aI/j:-r/j ,f/ym/jm,fj>pS-< 



W. 



nJ.^ 



i.s-s'V";\siA\ V' 



TheTOWNof 

B08'l ON 




nnrai'tn n,nd J'ri7iJe{/ ?y /'raJ^e^nt/iij/ 



/,/ ly Cnp' ■ 



ll^UI'l'r,., a^,»-n/ty rim-^iUra/t m/u',r nu.^hU/oll/.'O .//•nnum.iy,-''. 




W tMvWN 






^0* ./ 



b V 



ir- 






■'■^X^V 



> 



V^^ 



O N O 















J:. ^ ^^ 






if 






/?■ '. 



,»" . 



%■■■ 



% 



^O^ ,''"' "*=> 



\ 



'>^;% ^>^o/ :;^^'" Vo^' .•^^': ^-o/ 











t » » 



^O 



A <^ o " " " <» "°:a 












> *'"^^ ^ ^^ '^'"' f^ <^^ "^ A^ . 



v-"; 
..^'^"- 




.**\'J^°%^'^^ /.-'" 



-. %/ ^-^^^ %.„. 






4- 



^°-^<^^ 



^-. 



. / 
y 



*^ -\> ^ « • 



"-^/ -feCX.^" «^^"''"-^/ *^*^'" 









0^ .-^J^.-.^, 



^-^^^ A 



<{> , '^ O . <f> 






.-^<^^ 




.-^^ . 









.-^ ^ 



^ ' ' ^ <V ^ ^ -f^ " ^y ^ , Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 

^ \/ ** y^R/i" ^^ aP * ^5 Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide 

^ ^ * J^^M^^'' "♦In a!*" *".f\Sr Treatment Date: 

I -^^^^ 




MAY •""' 1998 
BBRftEEPER 



PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES. L.P. 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 






.^^"- 



A*"^ ^ o . . 









;*^ =^^, 



7-. ■• O 



,,-« 



**\' 



>Tr- '3 









